Death's Shroud
by elfboylover
Summary: Okay now...Link's got some big problems. NO, NOT THAT KIND OF STUFF. Read and find out. Come on, I dare ya. ;)
1. Prologue

1 Prologue  
  
  
  
He knew it was a dream. And why he was here. Because this was the place where he had always been, where he will once again meet him. Here by the misty pond; the rising fog clouded his vision as he walked through the dreamy field. It was here, and as expected the other was here too.  
  
Link walked slowly up to a young boy. He could only see his back as he crouched over the shore of the pond, head buried in his arms as he sobbed quietly. He was dressed in a black tunic; a black cap was tattered and lay by his side as he cried without a sound. A mist rose and surrounded him; breathing and spiraling around his small body before it rose and flew past Link's face.  
  
He closed his eyes in content; the breeze soothing an anxiety he felt and knew was to come. The boy stopped crying and was still. He knew Link was there from the beginning, and with inward understanding both of them knew what would follow.  
  
His voice was sullen and stern, far unlike the voice of a child or man. "Will you help me?" he asked. "I will," Link replied the monotone answer. The child stood up but did not turn away from the pond.  
  
"I'm scared. The darkness…there's shadows in them," he whispered. There was a breath of silence. Link saw the boy stare at the center of the pond, where the waters turned darker in an inky cloud. "Will you help me?" he repeated. Link nodded curtly. "I will try the best that I can." The child made a dark, mirthless chuckle. He bent down and fetched his cap from the ground and placed it on his head, all the while not turning away from the pond.  
  
"You can't help me," he said and seemed to gaze far into the pond, further than it appeared to be. The darkness of the pond grew and its waters began to churn and touched the shore. "What do you want from me then?" Link asked aggravated.  
  
"You can't help me. They hate me. I don't want to go. Don't let them…the shadows hate you as well. I will too," the child whispered slowly as he stared quietly at the water, which began lapping further onshore. It drifted in and out like the waves of the ocean and reached the child's feet.  
  
The boy stared down at his feet; and slowly turned to him. Link could not see his face; it was shrouded by the shadows from his cap. Two dots on his face began to flare red and orange flames. The flames spread and engulfed the boy, burning in scorching flesh and clothing.  
  
"No one can help me now." 


	2. Chapter One

1.1 Chapter One  
  
Link's eyes opened with a start. It took him a moment to realize that he was sweating and breathing faster than usual. Epona awoke and made irritated snorts at the interruption of her sleep. Link sat up in his sleeping bag and sighed. His hand ran through his blond hair and wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead. He buried his face in his hands and muttered, "Not again."  
  
Navi heard him and yawned, stretching her wings out before she flew in front of him and hovered above his head. "Hey kid," she said wearily, "What's going on?" Link hesitated before answering her back. "Nothing," he finally replied, "Navi, you look tired; your glow is getting dim." Navi made another yawn and went back to sleep inside the linen of his cap. Epona, satisfied with the situation, rested her neck and closed her eyes. "And remember," Navi said sluggishly, her voice muffled through the folds of the cap, "You've got training to do tomorrow so go and get some…" Her voice was interrupted by a light snore.  
  
Link lay down with his arms supporting the back of his head. The stars were bright across their dark blue mantle, scattered in endless places within the deepest reaches of space and eternity. He tried to admire them, but an irritating thought about the boy in black kept returning to him. Link knew him, knew him ever since he was a child in the Kokiri Forest. It was as if they had been lifelong brothers in his dreams but always…  
  
Link muttered to himself, "Just go to sleep. I can see it now in the Hyrulean Herald; 'Young deliverer of Hyrule's tranquility: Wets his bed in nightmares.'" He sighed haggardly, and sank back into the covers of his sleeping bag. Sleep came to him slowly, and by the first pale pink light from the mountains he was sleeping soundly.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
"…Ninety-nine Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall, ninety – nine Lon Lon Ranch milk! You take one down, pass it around, ninety – eight Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall. Ninety-eight…" Navi trailed off with her singing to ease off the boredom. Link smiled at her from Epona's back and shook his head. The roan mare snorted and twitched her ears impatiently and tried to nip at the fairy that was bobbing right out of her reach.  
  
Link patted her on the neck soothingly and quickened her pace to ease the mild temperament. Navi had pushed them out of Hyrule's close borders to wear off the glory of the Hero of Time nearly a year ago. Now was the time for the entire country to rebuild itself after Ganon's terror, and both Navi and Link agreed that the identity of the unknown hero should remain a secret between them and the Sages until then. Yet the young warrior's heart was restless, and day and night the Hylian and non-human companions set off as wanderers, stopping at a area only to train and for other necessities. Link took in the scenery around him, and wondered where in the empty view of land Navi had promised him was the training spot she had chosen to shut out any unwanted interference.  
  
He joined Navi's chorus and sang. "Eighty - six Lon Lon Ranch milk on the wall, eighty – six Lon Lon Ranch milk," his tenor rich voice contrasted with the fairy's high pitched and energetic singing. Epona shook her head and neighed as if to say, "I'm with the dullest pair in the universe; someone, please, help me!"  
  
They reached twenty-four Lon Lon Ranch milk bottles when Navi told Link to stop. He hesitated and scrutinized the area around him. It was merely a broad field, deserted for mile unseen save the few trees scattered around a river that bubbled and trickled down the horizon to his right. "Navi," he asked uncertainly, "You sure this is the right place?"  
  
Navi darted in front of him and looked from left to right. "Yup," she said with a bob to indicate a nod, "This is it." Link's eyebrows raised skeptically. '*This* is the place where we're going to train for the next month?' He had hoped she would bring him to a combat center where he'll be introduced to human foes and different weaponry. His swordsman-ship could use a little sharpening and he wouldn't mind studying a bit of martial arts to help his finesse and to defend himself unarmed.  
  
"We're not in Hyrule anymore, are we?" he asked. "No, I think we've landed somewhere further southeast from Hyrule," she answered, "We could get a map later from a nearby town, you've got over thousands of Rupees in that huge wallet of yours."  
  
Link scanned the area. Surely Navi wouldn't bring them into the middle of nowhere without a good reason. He tried to come up with several theories of what would happen once Epona lay a hoof into the territory.  
  
"You sure the trees don't suddenly turn into Stalfos or that the lake is filled with Bigoctos?" he asked hopefully. "Nope," Navi responded. "What about the sky?" he suggested, "Anything with that?" "Nope." "The trees show a passage to a secret underground dungeon?" "Nope."  
  
"The river's poisoned?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"There's an army of Iron Knuckles headed this way?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"A band of thieves nearby?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"There's -"  
  
"Shut the fuck up already!" Navi screeched, "This Din-damned pile of shit has nothing more than a few fucking trees and a fucking little river! Now if you don't want to get use to this fucking place and start training, then fucking shit you're just gonna' fucking have to!"  
  
She cleared up her throat and added calmly, "Now, I think it's best if you start out with more evasive maneuvers and start thinking up of some good techniques while you're at it. Is that clear?" Link gulped slowly and nodded. Epona's eyes bulged and took a step back away from the fairy.  
  
Link dismounted and landed gently on the ground. He stretched his legs in relief from the uncomfortable feel of the saddle. 'Din-damnit that's sore,' he miserably, 'I'll have to get a cushion over that thing.' He took off Epona's saddle and bridle, along with the Fairy's Pouch that contained most of his weaponry and other items, and set it to the ground. With gentle pat, he sent the mare off to do as she wished. Navi wandered off nearby, stating that she'd be inspecting from afar.  
  
Link sighed and hid all their belongings near a grassy knoll by the river and let the heavy steel plated shield slide from his shoulder with a thump. He walked over to a decaying tree that stood alone among the field. Unsheathing his sword with masterful ease, he positioned himself for an imaginary foe to attack. The tree's form slowly shifted into one of a Stalfos within his mind, and the skeletal thing went for a deep undercut. Link sprang to avoid, and brought down the Master Sword to its center. The blade cut deep within the wood, and he imagined it to be a block from the Stalfo's saber.  
  
Over and over he fought the enemy, using new twists and turns of the sword hilt to imitate breaking the iron mail armor in the case of such predicament. This continued on for over a half an hour, when Link felt himself breathless as he stared down at his defeated enemy, who mostly lay in splinters strewn across the earth. A stabbed trunk holding out a bare branch was all that left of the decaying tree.  
  
"Hey, nice job," Navi congratulated him as she flew over. He smiled, and the branch of the tree fell in defeat. "Thanks." "I think we'd better call a break before you tire yourself out." Link nodded in agreement and sheathed his sword. He picked up his Fairy's Pouch and they went to a spot near the river.  
  
Link sat down and reached in the Fairy's Pouch. The pouch was about the size of any other old bag, but he drove his whole entire arm into it and groped around. He took out his Fairy Ocarina, the one in which Saria had given him as a kid and in which he had stored all these years. Link reached in again and pulled out a bottle of Romani's Ranch Chateau Romani.  
  
"Oh!" Navi shouted in delight, "Let me have some!" Link uncorked the bottle held it out for Navi to drink. The fairy hovered near the lip; the center ball of light dipped in it. The milk dropped considerably and Link cringed. It costs two hundred Rupees to get a bottle, and he was lucky enough to get one from Cremia as a present for his journey when he passed by the ranch a month ago. That made him cringe again. Milk that old was sure to spoil. Link prayed for his own well being that Navi wouldn't fall ill get mad at him for it. For such a small thing, the fairy had an amazingly quick temper.  
  
She finally stopped drinking and let out a loud, satisfied sigh. "Hic!" Navi burped and fluttered drunkenly in the air. "Boy that-hic!-was good! Hic-cu!" she assured in a half intoxicating voice. Link's eyebrows rose in suspicion and he sniffed at the milk. His eyes widened in surprise and he dumped the remaining contents of the bottle into the ground behind his back.  
  
"Navi?" he asked with a worried tone, "You okay?" Navi didn't answer and attempted to fly around, but instead bobbed aimlessly from side to side and crash-landed into the grass. Link bent over and scooped up the fairy with his hands. "Navi?" he shook her slightly, a worried look crossed over his face. "Navi, say something!"  
  
The fairy's white glow began to turn slightly purple. She lay in his hands and laughed drunkenly. "Did you know you have pretty eyes?" she rambled. Navi suddenly darted to the fallen tree branch, her color now bright yellow. "Look, Link!" she yelled to him, "It's lunging Deku Baba! Kill it before it springs back up again!"  
  
"Navi," Link answered, "That's just a branch." "Nonsense!" the fairy retorted, "It's a Deku Baba! And boy, is this one lazy, it's not even getting up to attack! Oh well, get it before it does!" "Navi!" Link yelled in frustration, "I'm telling you, it's a tree branch! Now stop that or you're gonna hurt yourself!"  
  
She burped again and staggeringly flew over to Epona. "Now what makes you think I'm gonna'-hic! -Hurt myself?" "Damn," Link muttered. 'Spoiled milk makes a fairy drunk? Or is it because it's Chateau Romani milk?' Navi was flying from side to side in front of Epona's face. The mare reared and backed away.  
  
"Come on-hic! -Epona!" Navi challenged, "Put 'em up! Come on, Hic! Let's see what you're made of!" The fairy's sudden boldness startled her; Epona reared and clawed her hooves dangerously into the air.  
  
"Shit!" Link cursed, "Stupid fairy!" He caught Epona by her mane and ran a hand down her neck. Navi gave out an earth-shaking belch and floated down in wavers to the grass. "Easy, girl," Link whispered into Epona's ear soothingly, "Come on." Slowly he led the horse to a distance by the river. They passed by a tree when Epona snorted and reared.  
  
"Whoa, whoa!" Link yelled in surprise. Epona was in hysterics. With a running start she rammed her head against the tree, her momentum nearly tearing it from its roots. "Epona!" Link shouted and tried to restrain her, "Calm down! What's gotten into you?"  
  
Navi shook herself out of her drunken state from the commotion and regained some sense. "What's going on?" she asked and nearly dodged a pair of clawing hooves. "I don't know!" Link replied exasperatedly, "She just suddenly turned all crazy and started head butting that tree for no reason!" The fairy contemplated the situation and hovered to the tree while Link struggled to rein Epona and held her back. "Horses spook easily, something here must have scared her."  
  
She flew closer to the leaves and inspected the areas between the branches. A hand lashed at her and a voice scolded, "Shoo! Go away, you stupid firefly!" Navi turned red with rage. "Firefly? Why I oughta'… Link! There's someone up here! Might be some low-life, insulting thief, let Epona have at it!" She muttered under her breath in self-satisfaction, "Teach you to call me a firefly…"  
  
Link released Epona, the liberation of the opposing force allowing her to charge into the tree harder than before. A voice yelled in surprise, and someone fell into Link's arms. They crashed into the ground and lay sprawled on the floor. Link rubbed his head and cursed under his breath. The person on his lap recovered from the fall with a slight moan. Suddenly, it placed a tight death lock on his neck, choking out his life.  
  
  
  
*Hey, everyone! That was just the first chapter you read, and in my opinion it went kind of slow. Sorry about that, I'm bad at introductions: ( And yes, in this fanfic Navi is a bit hot-headed and a frequent user of profanity. She and Epona are a bit for a comedy relief, as is Link's laid back behavior at times. But keep on reading, there's more to see! Later. 


	3. Chapter Two

1.1 Chapter Two  
  
"Oh, thank you! Thank you, you saved my life!" a feminine voice said excitedly, "I owe you my life! Who knew how many bones I could have broken!" Link's face was red and his body felt sore from the impact. 'Lady, if I could, I'd switch places with you,' Link thought bitterly. He pulled away from the woman's grasp and stood up.  
  
The woman was standing before he could get a good look at her. Long pale blue hair fell down to her waist, which curved in and out in all the right places. She wore a white, skin- tight outfit that split at the waist and joined at the sides, where a pin joined together a translucent white silk sash to a point at her wrists. She wore a brooch over her chest of intricate design that held a sapphire of the richest hues.  
  
Her hair parted in bangs, where it was paled to near white. She held his eyes with ones of icy blue. Link found himself staring and looked away courteously. Somehow, her eyes made him feel uncomfortable in a way the Freezzard was too cold and harsh.  
  
She looked down and made a shy giggle. "You wear funny clothes," she said childishly. Link glanced at himself, unaware of what was wrong with a traditional tunic. "What?" he asked. She shrugged pointed out his arm. "You're wearing tights, along with finger-less gloves." With a wide gesture she pointed out his entire appearance and added, "You don't exactly look like one of those heroes from a story book. You look more like an elf to me. Oh yeah, you also have long pointy ears. Like the earrings, though." She ended with a high, nerve wrecking chain of laughter. Link nearly shuddered under the its pitch. Without a moment's pause she continued with an overweening speed on something he couldn't make out.  
  
Her incredibly fast talk baffled Link as he trailed behind several words. He noted a distinct accent she spoke in the common Northern tongue, and decided that she didn't originate from a country he was aware of.  
  
"Uh…yeah. So exactly where are you from and who are you anyway?" Link asked. "I'm Nemixian, silly," she teased, "Don't tell me you don't know where you are." Navi flew besides Link and they both exchanged a look of confusion. "Well, no," Link replied.  
  
"Oh," she answered as if in disappointment, "Well, the territory that you're stepping on is the inner boundary that separates Hyrule from Nemix. I bet you're from Hyrule, right? You do have the common ears." Link nodded and replied, "I'm Link." She smiled; her hands behind her back and returned his introduction with a nod. "Hello," Navi intruded, "I'm Navi, the fairy." She enunciated the term fairy with an icy edge of abhorrence.  
  
"Oh," the girl repeated in the same sense of disappointment, "Well, my name is Frae." She waited, as if expecting a certain reaction. Epona came up from behind Link nudged his shoulder for some attention. "Hey girl," he acknowledged her soothingly, "What have you been up to?" Epona nuzzled him affectionately and he returned with gentle loving strokes down her neck. Frae analyzed them through icy blue eyes, and pouted with an envious curl of her mouth.  
  
"This is Epona," Link introduced. Frae reached out to touch her, edging herself next to Link. The mare snorted disdainfully at Frae and whipped her mane at her face. "Hey!" Frae yelled irritated, "Stupid horse!" Link frowned at her statement. Seeing his expression, Frae chuckled weakly and said in a feeble voice, "What a wonderful breed she is. Appaloosa? Or is she a palomino or thoroughbred?"  
  
Link raised his eyebrow in confusion. "No, actually she's not of any breed," he replied, "She's more like a mixed type." "Oh," Frae replied, her face darkened from her mistake. "I nearly forgot," Link said, and turned to her. "What in the Realm were you doing in that tree?"  
  
Frae beamed at him and answered, "Me? I just love climbing trees, that's all." 'Oh brother,' Link thought. "Why here?" he implied, "There aren't any trees in Nemix?" "Of course there is!" Frae said defiantly, "I just love the trees that grow around here!" "Really?" Navi asked skeptically, "We stayed here for quite a long time. How come you didn't try to leave?" "I fell asleep," Frae defended, "I didn't notice anything until something tried to knock me out of my branch." "A likely story," Navi commented not too softly. Frae shot her a murderous glare and immediately glanced back to smile at Link's thoughtful expression.  
  
"I see," he muttered. He strolled to the grassy knoll where he hid his supplies in a niche under a pile of rocks and hauled them next to Epona. "What are you doing?" Frae asked curiously. "We have to go," Link replied quickly. "Why?" Frae nearly shouted in defiance.  
  
Link looked at her as he tightened his shield around his back and answered with a sarcastic humor, "I need to train around somewhere with no one spooking my poor horse."  
  
Frae had on an utter look of distraught as she watched Link harness Epona and load his belongings. "Training? But wait, y-you can't just leave me here!" she stuttered. Navi answered tauntingly, "And why not?" "Shut up," Frae growled under her breath and replaced her annoyance with an urging look. "Link," she truckled, "you really can't leave a beautiful girl like myself all alone here in the middle of nowhere?"  
  
Link stared at her with a skeptical expression. "Well," he answered slowly and turned to look at her amusingly, "I guess you do have a point." "Dindamnit," Navi muttered to Epona, "He's always got that thing for pretty girls." The horse snorted and shook her head in reluctant agreement.  
  
"But then you were all right before we found you," Link said abruptly and straddled onto the saddle, "And I'm pretty sure that you'll be able to go back to Nemix with no problem from the way you got here." Navi stifled a yell of glory in a hushed tone of, "Whoo hoo!"  
  
Before Frae could argue, Link shook Epona's reins briskly. "Nayru's Blessings and Din's Strength to your return home!" he shouted and majestically bowed from atop of the saddle. "Nice meeting you!" Navi said brightly and added not too softly under her breath, "Not." Epona whinnied with delight and galloped, keeping as much distance apart from herself and Frae as she possibly could.  
  
Frae stood and glared as the horse and her rider disappeared out of sight. "Imbecile," she growled, "You and your silly horse and some firefly thought you could just ditch me way out here?" She fingered her brooch and stood in thought. Her silence was interrupted by a trample of hoof beats from her far left. Dirt rose as the party of riders drew up close, a group of riders donned in royal suit were led by a handsome youth adorned in a gaudy ensemble fit for a parade.  
  
"Princess Helena!" he shouted to her as they neared. She narrowed her eyes at the sound of the voice and her name, and turned to the company. The other riders behind the young man gestured the royal protocol of greeting with a touch of their left arm, forehead and chest before bowing their heads with a regrettable, "Princess."  
  
The captain of the riders, wearing a more flashy armor and a sapphire pendant over his forehead, spoke, "Your Highness, thank goodness you're safe. Please forgive our unsuitable carelessness. We should have been more cautious with your whereabouts, but you must also comply with us especially under the specific orders of your father. Will you return to the palace with us at once as not to cause His Royalty any worry?"  
  
The Princess gave him a simple look and replied in a bored tone, "Yes, Cronaul. I was merely bored from the events at the castle, nothing more." Helena cast a glance at the young man who called her name, his face aglow with affection and relief. Seeing his expression made her turn away in disgust. 'Out of all the princes in the world I got stuck with the Deku Stick, Kroahn.'  
  
Although his beauty surpasses many men in the country, the young prince of the small country Waiel was a bit, in the manner of speaking, slow and awkward. Helena despised the choice her father made in allowing this thing to propose to her - a dull idiot who shrunk away in fear of his own shadow. Had it not been for the fact that Waiel provided as a strong ally to Nemix as a center for agriculture and weaponry the Nemixian king would have never considered his daughter to wed such a coward.  
  
The story she had told Link was false, what lured her nearly off Nemixian's borders was the need to escape her fiancé. Their wedding was still a month away, but the prince decided to start making the arrangements and had just almost arrived at the castle from the North Mountains when she snuck out. His herald arrived a few days ago to foretell of the prince's arrival at the palace, and now that Kroahn was in the Nemixian borders there was no way he was going to turn back.  
  
Just thinking of their engagement made Helena shudder.  
  
When Kroahn finally reached her, he nearly tripped on his stirrups when he slid down. "My princess," he said out of breath and tucked in some loose fabric into his pants, "Are you in any harm?" Helena forced herself to smile sweetly and answered in a tender voice, "No, my prince. All is well now that you are here." 'And I wish I was somewhere else.'  
  
She caught herself staring at the direction Link had left to. 'Now there's a real horseman,' she thought and remembered the easy leap the young Hylian perfected to mount. Definitely, judging by size and body structure, Link had to be at least two years older than Kroahn. The princess smiled to herself. If was not her father's choice, she would have single handedly picked out her own husband.  
  
Noticing her gaze, Kroahn scanned the horizon for a sign of what she was staring at. "Princess?" he asked as if wanting a hint. Helena's face snapped towards him, a forced smile stretching her cheeks. "What is it, my dear?" The prince fell in an awkward silence at his fiancé's address and finally shook his head.  
  
"Your Highness should return home," he finally said and stupidly nodded to himself in agreement. Helena said nothing but mounted the huge white beast that was her own stallion. Once she reached to the castle Kroahn would finally stop bothering her. 'Besides,' she thought with a smile, 'Link is absentmindedly riding straight towards the capital. It won't be too far.'  
  
With a yell she kicked the horse's sides and galloped towards Nemix. "Hey!" Kroahn shouted behind, "Wait for me!" Helena scoffed and urged the horse to run faster. "I would rather leave you behind and kiss a Moblin," she muttered. Her horse kicked forth clumps of dirt and grass, while Helena only wished that Kroahn was being dragged behind her all the way back to the castle.  
  
  
  
*Introducing a few new characters: the Princess of Nemix herself and the idiotic prince Kroahn. Helena was made to be a bit of a bitch, and her sudden attraction to Link is nothing from the ordinary -_~. Kroahn is definitely here for a bit of light humor, though I have to say I kinda' feel a bit sorry for the guy that he's a bit too 'sheltered'. They also play an important part in the more darker parts of the story, so keep reading! 


	4. Chapter Three

1.1 Chapter Three  
  
  
  
The temple, dark as hell itself, was lighted by the ruby red torches that glinted off the walls. Its glow shadowed the faces of thousands of worshipers praying on their knees. It was the Temple of Hadean, its whereabouts and existence known only to the worshipers who lay in prayers. Their bodies were covered in dark clothing that draped over their entire figure and splayed over the floor. They all murmured guttural chants that echoed off the walls and resonated through the temple in low vibrations.  
  
Their deity was a winged angel statuette of stone carved on the wall opposite of the great doors at the end of the darkness. The statue's figure was of a life-size man, but was carved so high above the room that they could only interpret his form by the flickering flame of the torch kept below his feet.  
  
Although the angel's body was kept high from the ground, not a decent area of the wall was empty. His wings rose to great heights above his head and half enveloped his figure. The peak of his wings touched the ceiling and curved inward against the sides and floor of the entire wall. Glow of the torch beneath him, the exquisite relief of the wings articulated in a blood red wash of light.  
  
A heavily cloaked figure wearing gloves and boots, stood before two towering doors of black obsidian at the opposite wall of the statue. At the peak of the ornately designed gates was a steel statue of a twisted demon, its mouth splitting to a eerie grin as cobalt eyes flickered to those stood before it. Sensing the presence of the one standing beneath it, its eyes shone in a grotesque flare. The doors parted, allowing him to enter, and then closed shut.  
  
The room bathed in a calm blue of a clear summer's night, its walls resounded in a blue magic that swam in steady currents. A fairly long walkway draped in red carpet led down to the end of the room, where located a throne reaching heights greater than the door. The carpet was the only solid ground between the door and the throne. It floated in midair above a dark pit of eternal oblivion and served as the room's only walkway.  
  
Trying carefully not to place a false step that would lead to the abyss of eternal descent, he walked down the carpet in uneasiness. He could feel eyes glaring down at him, and traced them to the many little twisted demons like the one above the door. They sat in posts that jutted from the side- walls, their forms neither human or beast but of creatures mankind have shunned away from in fear and disgust. Their eyes flickered in orange, yellow, and nightfall blue; and seemed to dare him to fall as they watched him walk to the two people staring down from the throne at the end of the room.  
  
When he finally reached the respected distance from the throne he performed the ritual of the highest degree of respect. His greeting concerned him to touched his forehead with two fingers from each hand and run them down the side of his head to his cheekbones. Then with his right two fingers he traced over the area of his heart under the layers of cloak and lowered himself to the floor.  
  
Mist seemed to pour out of him when he bowed, and a strange wind swirled around him tumbled his hood off his head. The man was no man at all, but a condensed form of air and vapor. Quickly the gloves of the being pulled the hood over its unseen head and covered even the nonexistent face.  
  
"Stand," a voice commanded. The sound seemed to echo from the walls themselves. A silvery sage looked down from his throne near the ceiling and motioned for it to stand. Obediently, the being raised itself and stood with its head held low. "Of what interest brings ye here?" the same voice asked.  
  
The being looked at the seat of the throne, where the large figure with cooled silver eyes was clearly sitting. The light from the walls allowed him to see another man standing to the seated person's left-hand side. This tall man faced the seated sage with his arms crossed in a defiant posture. The man was concealed even further by darkness, and his face turned to it while it had been staring.  
  
It looked away quickly. The man's eyes were bright red and tinted to orange, contrasting greatly with his partner's serene shade of silver. Very little was known about the silvery lord seated in the throne, but even less was known about his companion. Their relationship was also an obscure mystery, and the only souls who know about its source were the ones who stared down at him at this very moment.  
  
"O Insightful One," the being began, "I have come to deliver a message." At this, the man standing scoffed and turned his head away in boredom. Unease and a bit offended at the reaction, the messenger paused before continuing.  
  
"I was told by my people, the Sirccos – beings of the wind, that the survivor of Puer's blood has finally come." The man standing jerked his head in rapt attention to the Sircco, his eyes flared for a moment to a shade of blinding red. Seeing his partner's alertness the Insightful One nodded in understanding.  
  
"I see," he answered to the Sircco, his silver eyes gleamed. "Tell your people that they shall be immensely rewarded." Nodding eagerly and replying in grateful thanks, the messenger turned and soon exited. The great doors closed, and the restless demons seated on the pillars of the sides began to calm.  
  
His red eyes became narrow slits as he acknowledged his seated companion without looking at him. "He's here." The other lowered his head in a slight nod and turned to him. "I know that you have been waiting for this for a long time," he said.  
  
A smile formed on the man's lips. His throat let out a mirthless chuckle. 'Finally,' he thought. The low chuckle erupted into a tremendous bellows, and the demons responded in crazed frenzy. They darted into the air, wings beating furiously against each other to escape the laughter. The man only continued, and the Sircco who had just left the doors placed its gloves against the sides of its hood as it ran out of the Temple of Hadean.  
  
  
  
*This chapter was dedicated to the sole darkness and plot of the story. It gives a little foreshadowing of what's to come up. Who's Puer's blood and exactly what were they ranting about? Well, I placed all the events in the order to throw you all off. Saying no more. ( 


	5. Chapter Four

1.1 Chapter Four  
  
Had it not been for the civilians tending to their business around the outskirts, Link would have never guessed that he arrived to anyplace near population. Quaint stone cottages lined up in neat, little rows that ran up and down a cobblestone street. Smoke and various smells rose, the entire image gave off an idea of a homey, little town.  
  
Link rode Epona in a slow canter past farmers and housewives. Comments sprung from different places, many about this foreigner's clothes. Link frowned at the insults; just what was wrong with an old, traditional tunic?  
  
Navi also attracted attention. Unlike Hyrule, this new area seemed nearly oblivious to the Fairy race. Now that a light blue, pulsing ball of light was following this stranger mounted on an undecipherable breed of a horse, the three created an unusual group indeed.  
  
But the remarks soon ebbed away and everyone went back to their own business. Little children ran around the street, one small group playing some sort of game where you kick a small object with your feet to the other player. The kicking of the object continues until one player loses control and drops it. Laughter sprang forth from every angle, mingling with the hustle and bustle of work that needed to be done.  
  
Epona shook her mane at the decline of speed Link was making her take and picked up a few steps. Something landed in front of her while she trotted, and a little child ran to the street to pick it up. In desperation and agility, Link tugged on the horse's reins. "Whoa, girl!" Epona reared, tearing at the air with her hooves while the child on the ground cringed and cowered in fear.  
  
Steadily, Link calmed the horse down. Navi, a little flustered, went on screaming comments of their behavior. Ignoring the fairy, Link looked down at the child and asked, "Are you all right?" A little boy with untidy black hair and green eyes stared at him while clutching the object he retrieved with both hands.  
  
He glanced at his playmates from across the street and back at Link again with a look of confusion and amusement. The boy took a few steps back slowly and returned to his friends with repeated glances over his shoulder at Link. A boy about ten years of age was looking at him and the little boy who played, and with a moment's hesitation walked up to Link.  
  
"Thank you, 'gahtan'," he greeted in the accent that Frae had used, "I applaud your horsemanship, and I apologize for my little brother's behavior. The younger children are not usually courteous." His formality seemed out of character to suit the tall, lanky youth with dark black hair. The boy's clothes were tattered and his face was sooty with dirt. But his strong composure and maturity stood out among the townsfolk; as bright and odd as the pale, crystal blue eyes that stuck out from his dark face.  
  
Link nodded his head in an unsure acknowledgement, and with a slight tilt of his head asked Navi through clenched teeth. "What's 'gahtan'?" he inquired desperately. She made a slight curved bell noise to tell him she didn't know.  
  
Link smiled back at the boy and answered, "You're welcome, 'gahtan'." 'Hopefully, I didn't just insult him,' he prayed. Instead of being irritated, the boy laughed. "I don't suppose that you're from around these parts," he stated, " 'Gahtan' in the Nemixian Traditional Tongue means 'father', but it's usually used to address others formally." With a grin, he added with a more childish tone, "My ma would kick me out of the house if she thought I had a kid."  
  
Link smiled sheepishly and apologized. For the first time, the boy noticed Navi floating on the side of his head. "Whoa, what in Nayru's name is that?" he asked wondrously. "Navi," the fairy replied for herself, "I'm the common Hyrulean Forest Fairy." Seeing the puzzled look on the boy's face she added scornfully, "What? Never seen a flying ball of light before? Where have you been?"  
  
Unaware of her own churlish behavior, Link shot her a disapproving glance. Navi had always been the informative one, but she often became more bossy and sassier that way. But the boy ignored the fairy's rude comment and reached out for Epona. "What a beautiful horse you have," he said fondly as his hand ran across her forehead and the star she bore. "I always wanted to ride another one," he added.  
  
The comment struck Link as odd but amusing. "Really?" he asked, "What's that supposed to mean?" Instead of answering, the boy looked away. His ears began to turn red, and Link sensed the discomfort in his reaction.  
  
"Sorry," Link added quickly and immediately switched the subject, "What's your name?" He looked back at him and replied, "Gatle, sir. What's yours?" "Link. And my horse's name is Epona." Epona shook her head and held it proudly as if to boast her physique. "Oh brother," Navi muttered.  
  
"Gatle! Twareu hei morqer (Get here to work)!" a guttural voice sounded from a blacksmith's shop. "Ila, kaykhan(Yes, boss)!" he answered immediately and began sprinting towards the shop with his long legs. Waving at Link as he ran, Gatle yelled back, "I'll see you around, Mr. Link! Please visit my home, it's the one with the green phosgane!" Link waved back and watched the boy enter the shop. The man who called him began scolding him before he shut the door.  
  
"Well," Navi said, "That was short." "Short what?" Link asked while shaking Epona's reins slightly to keep her in pace. "Short meeting," she replied and added with a sigh, "Too bad not all acquaintances are like that." Link gave her a confused yet knowing look over his shoulder. "What was that supposed to mean?"  
  
"I meant that daughter-of-a-Stalfos Frae! What a fucking chatterbox! You'd think there was something wound up inside her head that makes her go on and on like that! And the ways she talks, gods! If I only had a Rupee for every time she's acted like a little Gerudo looking for a boyfriend…"  
  
Link sighed as Navi ranted about Gerudos to everything that had no relation to the other whatsoever. They continued that way while they passed down the street. Epona snorted and shook her head in annoyance. 'Someone shut that thing up in a bottle! Link! I know you have one; what's keeping you?' the horse lamented to herself.  
  
Ignoring the fairy's voice, Link searched for a cottage with something odd and green. He should have asked Gatle what a Phosgane was, now that an acquaintance was made. From experience he learned that each meeting is important, as that person may aid you in certain times too many. Gatle seemed like a boy who could offer uses of help, and his familiarity with the Nemixian traditions and speech would be quite helpful if Link was going to cross the country.  
  
They kept at a slow walk as they passed by the rows of homey cottages built from sturdy stone and straw or wooden roofs. Chimneys brought out the musty smell of soot and a bit of aroma from one's dinner. Link glanced around for taverns or small inns where he could spend the night, if needed. A simple inn caught his eye. A picture of two dolphin-like creatures with horns crossed each other from a sign hanging from the inn. Underneath were foreign words Link could not read.  
  
He stepped off Epona while Navi completed her last sentence; "…and maybe even Gorons can throw rocks over volcanoes or something." "Yeah, Navi," Link said absent-mindedly. He led Epona by the reins and took her into the stables. The stall boy just finished tending to a handsome black and yellow stallion and turned to Link. "Thare rieao dyu, gahtan (How can I help you, gahtan)?" he asked. Link, looking puzzled, answered politely, "I'm sorry. I'm not around from here, so you'll have to use the common language."  
  
"Ragi (Holy) Farore, can I help you'awl, gahtan?" the boy asked with a heavy accent. Link heard the annoyance in the boy's voice, and handed him a red Rupee. "I'd like to keep my horse here, for one night," he said as he gave the gem to him.  
  
The boy stared down at the Rupee. "Maybe they don't use Rupee as currency here," Navi whispered to him. Link felt uneasy as the boy finally looked up. "Tyru Din! You'awl can stay yaw horse here 'fer a week here with this here much. One night 'fer 'yer horse is only three Rup' ehs. It's way too much." Link held out his hand in refusal as the boy handed the money back to him. "That's alright," he encouraged, "Keep it. Just make sure that Epona is comfortable and fed, and I'll be back to get her in the morning."  
  
Overly joyful and enthusiastic, the boy nodded happily and led Epona to a fresh stall by the beautiful black stallion. Link gave Epona a final stroke and left to pay for the night's room. When he left, the boy began to stack up oats in the stallion and Epona's manger. Then he left to fetch water for their trough.  
  
The black lifted his large head up, reflecting the well-developed muscles of his neck down to Epona. The mare snorted in disgust and ignored the constant flirts of the stallion, but he continued until the boy returned with buckets of water. "Kyoreleah, aheteu eothir arleuieo (Kyoreleah, you should behave yourself)," he said as he filled the black's trough. "An' there you go, girl," he said to Epona, pouring the water in her trough.  
  
While she drank, the boy combed her white mane, and with a currycomb he brushed her coat until it gleamed. "Tyru Din (Din damn), 'yer sure are a prett'eh horse," he complimented as he groomed her and patted the white star on her forehead. Epona closed her eyes at the flattery. The stallion snorted, golden forelocks shook over his eyes. When the boy finished checking her over, he left the stables.  
  
As soon as he disappeared, the black returned to his moves on Epona. Enraged, she turned her rear to him and back-kicked at his muzzle. He reared back in surprise and stumbled in his stall. Losing balance, the stallion fell to his side in a tangle of hooves and mane. The stable boy returned to inspect the noise. A calm mare was quietly eating while a befuddled stallion was gathering himself up in a clamber. "Aukeu larshea (You idiot)! Yaw such a wreck'eh, can't 'yer be like that mare?" the boy scolded as he groomed the bits of hay stuck within the black's coat. The black snorted in scorn, and Epona whinnied to herself in victory.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
When Link arrived at the receptionist's registration room, there was already someone doing business at the desk. The receptionist was speaking to a tall man whose shoulders were draped with a vest and unique clothing that was outlandish and becoming. Link sat down and waited for his turn while Navi sighed impatiently.  
  
He looked around the room and decided that the inn looked a lot like the Stock Pot from Clock Town. But the size of the inn was undeniably larger, and it seemed to be in a much better condition with much more service with the appearances of waiters or cleaners moving in and out from the door at the far side of the registration desk.  
  
"…You mean they're going to have the competitions after all?" Link heard the man say to the receptionist in the Trading Language, "Din-damnit, I thought they were gonna' cancel it for the wedding." "Naw," the receptionist replied, "King Dykat's a reasonable diplomat, but he wouldn't disappoint anyone just cause his daughter's getting married." "And not to mention all that prize money," the man added, "Fifty chests of gold Sarrons! With that, my horses would get a full body gold armor, with leftovers!"  
  
"And speaking of horses, are you still in trade these days?" the receptionist asked. "Aret nae (not anymore), the horses are starting to stick on me. Won't even eat unless it's straight from my own hands. I've been letting them easy, and it won't be until the next heat that I can get myself a new litter to train. Hopefully more colts, the fillies are usually too frail for sport."  
  
The receptionist nodded, and noticed Link waiting from his seat. "Well you do yourself some good now," he said to the other, "And let me know when the next batch comes so I can see 'em for myself." "Avakch shnae (Brief Parting)," the man waved and the receptionist repeated the same phrase as the other walked out the door. Before he left, the man cast a sideways glance at Link, and turned back without a word.  
  
"Finally," Navi grumbled and Link snapped back to attention. He rose and walked over to the receptionist while fingering his wallet. "I'd like to stay for one night," he said to the thin man behind the counter. The receptionist began to write something in a small notebook and asked frequent questions, "Will you be interested in the deluxe suite or the supreme suite? Do you want a balcony? A portable hot spring? King size, queen size, or standard size bed mattress? Any others joining you?"  
  
Link tried to keep up with his questions but was left in a blur of suggestions and inquiries. "Um," he said uncomfortably and scratched the back of his head, "Just a single room, please." The receptionist nodded quickly and jotted a note in another notebook. "That would be seventy-six Rupees, sir," he said. Link handed him the money and watched as the receptionist jot it down in the notebook before he shut it and placed it in a drawer. Then, he reached for one of the keys hanging from a mahogany post behind him and handed it to Link.  
  
"Your room is directly above from our kitchen. Just follow the stairs and head right until you see the third door from the end. Please enjoy your stay and send a message by the briche if you need anything," he said before Link left.  
  
Link strode up the flight of stairs and found himself in an immense hallway. The floor was lined with red carpet and burnt candles were placed in ornate, bronze sconces all along the wall. Each door had a strange picture of what seemed to be some sort of water animal that reminded Link of a horse crossed with a dolphin. There were other staircases leading to the hall, and people continued to walk up and down from another new corner.  
  
They found their room at the place signified, and Link unlocked it with the keys. Their eyes stared in amazement at the room. The bed was a soft quilted mattress down with goose feathers, and an attractive canopy was built over it. Navi flew inside with a yell of joy. "This is so cool!" she exclaimed excitedly, and sparks ignited from her light. The fairy dashed to another room and screamed, "Yee-ha! Link, you've gotta look at this bathroom!"  
  
Link laid their belongings on the ground and walked inside a pearly room of cool spring mist floating in the air, reminding him of the weeklong bath he had missed. All the handles and showering knobs (in which he was unaware of what it was, until a spray of water hit him when Link turned it on) were made of what seemed like clamshells.  
  
"Hey, look at this thing," Navi said and floated over a white contraption with a lid next to the sink. Link stooped over and lifted the lid, and saw that the thing was filled with water. "Just what the heck are you supposed to do with this thing?" he asked. A lever caught his eye, and with an innocent gesture he pushed it down. Before his very eyes, a torrent of water sprayed from the sides. Link instantly unsheathed the Master Sword, prepared with what evil that would appear to create the torrent.  
  
"Navi, stay back!" he ordered. The fairy and Hylian watched tensely at the torrent. It pushed against the original water, creating a whirlpool that eventually sucked into a hole at the bottom. When nothing seemed to happen, they peered over the side again. The water was back, the same calm state as it was before. Link and Navi looked at each other. Then, carefully, Link pushed the lever again. The same thing occurred two to three times.  
  
Link gave Navi a silly grin and dropped some of the paper from the dispenser into the water. The two of them watched in fascination as the piece of floating paper was pushed down into the hole. They looked at each other. "Cool." They left the bathroom and strayed into another chamber beside it.  
  
This room was filled with a white box, a cushion with a large sofa, and some tables with small things laid on them. Link went to see the box, and opened the handle. Cool air blasted towards him, and inside he saw some food. "Aw, my favorite!" he yelled in delight and grabbed a small pack wrapped in plastic. "Deku-Crunch!" The Hylian unwrapped the treat and began eating.  
  
"What else is in here?" Navi asked and went closer to look. "Help yourself," Link said and left the door open while he went to inspect a queer water – floating device on a table. "Hey, is that Goro-Candy?" the fairy started when a sudden click locked her into darkness.  
  
  
  
*Welcome to Nemix! Well, a few more new characters: Gatle, and not much more than that. Obviously has a strange acquaintance with horses when he said that he wanted to ride another one, but he's mainly a helping character towards Link and to finding newer allies. Our hero is fascinated thus far with the toilet, as described a few paragraphs before: I don't think they have that kind of technology back in Hyrule. ( Yes, I made up an entire language by myself, with expressions and correct uses for the verb conjugations according to the user and all that grammar crap we all learned in school. I have a freaking index with a list of everything: I am insane. Chapter five coming up, and it unravels a lot more of the plot. Wait for it! 


	6. Chapter Five

1.1 Chapter Five  
  
Link strode over to the one table where it held a glass dome filled with water. There were two glass balls floating in the water, one blue labeled "Transmission" and the other one a red glass ball labeled "Reception." Upon closer look, he saw a wire connected to each ball, where they exited out of the dome through separate thin tunnels that went through the wall. He played around with the blue ball and muttered, "Cool."  
  
Upon his remark, the red ball began to hum in reply. "Is there anything you wish, sir?" the receptionist's voice echoed through the ball. Link jumped back a bit and answered the blue ball curiously, "Uh, nothing, thanks. I uh, really admire the room." "Glad to be of service," the red ball replied and stopped humming.  
  
Link nodded in approval of the toy and bit off another chunk of the sweet, grainy candy bar, "…wholesome and delicately sweet to the last bite". It was then that he heard a faint thumping sound from around the room. Link spun around, ready for something to come out. Nothing happened, but the thumping sounded again, this time accompanied with a, "Link! Get me out of this place!"  
  
His eyes fell on the white box. "Navi?" he questioned it. "Come on! My wings are freezing off!" the voice replied harshly. With a jerk, Link pulled the door open. A ball of ice floated out, shivering in midair as shards of ice fell to the ground. A quivering voice snarled, "Y-you…"  
  
Link smiled sheepishly and held out half a candy bar. "Hungry?" he asked innocently. Navi attempted a torrent of curses before she hovered out near the sunlight to thaw. Link went to apologize but thought better of it. He'd leave her for a while and let her vent out whatever anger was left on a full stomach.  
  
Quietly as to not make a sound, he left the hotel room and made his way downstairs. He nodded courteously at another occupant of the hotel and went outside. He followed the road, looking for somewhere to eat. Two men carrying a huge cargo of liquor bumped into him. "Fluio ikle dyu (I'm sorry)," one of them said as they struggled with the container to a small building next to Link. He held out the door for them as they crawled in. "Henti dyu (Thank you)," the other man said as they went in. Link nodded and slipped inside after them.  
  
The place was fashioned like a diner, with music playing onstage and lights faintly bright in color. Barmaids served around the tables or along the booth that lined the walls, where a bartender was polishing glass and serving drinks. Ignoring some of the rude stares at his abnormal clothing, Link made his way across the room to an empty table near the wall. He sat down and checked the listed menu displayed in front of him, fingering the rupees in his wallet.  
  
He noticed from the corner of his eye several people staring at him. They seemed rather rugged and dirty, and kept around two single men near the center. One of them was burly and big, while the other was slightly skinny with rat-like eyes and appearance. The bigger one had a few barmaids under his arms, and from the manner of those around him, he was to be feared and respected here.  
  
Link felt tense, as if they were trying to size him up, but kept a calm appearance while he read the menu. 'Fish fried rice, seafood platter, shrimp surprise…octopus shishkabob? Ugh…' he thought to himself and made a face. This must have been some special day for seafood. He never had a fondness for fish; especially that a Zora on a stick did not appeal to him. Link resorted to a drink instead and let a barmaid come to serve him.  
  
The woman had a face too powdered with makeup and long fingernails. Her appearance looked of someone who might have been very pretty when she was younger until age loosened her figure and turned her skin more sallow. She held a small notebook and a pen and eyed him thoroughly and smiled. "What can I get you, pretty boy?" Link checked the price and answered, "I'll have a sangria on ice." She marked this and stared at him humorously. "Anything else?" "No." "You sure?" she said with a coy look, "Do you want a reservation?" Link asked, "For what?"  
  
She seated herself on the edge of the table, one bare leg poking out from under a very short pair of frilly black skirt. "Well the party could start later on, and there's a lot of people in line. You don't want to miss out now do you, Hon?" she said slyly. 'Is this her idea of a come on?' Link thought amusedly and kindly averted his eyes towards the stage. Her attempt failed to arouse him in any way, and he simply replied, "No, I won't be needing any. Just a drink, please." He brought out his wallet and obtained seven rupees and laid them on the table.  
  
The barmaid sulked and went ahead to bring his drink. Link noticed the two men and their companions ogling at his fat wallet when the barmaid returned and set the cocktail down with a clunk. She snatched the seven rupees from his hand and marched away. "Thank you," Link said as she turned away huffily. He began to sip when the two men were motioning towards each other and pointing at him. Link pretended not to notice and continued to drink when the two of them stood up and went towards him.  
  
He looked at them in a feign of surprise and asked politely, "Can I help you two gentlemen?" Noting the mockery in his voice, the skinnier man advanced when the other held out an arm to stop him. "We noticed your lot there," the one who stopped his friend answered, pointedly looking at the wallet. Link followed his gaze to his own wallet and smiled back. "Yes, my birthday money it is," he said, "My old man gave it to me to spend it in a day, me being a spendthrift and everything."  
  
"Such a waste that it would go to one man," the man said, fingering a porky finger over a knife on his belt. "Shouldn't you let it go to some more beggared, and needy others when you obviously have too much?" "Ah," Link said with amusement, "And are you suggesting that I hand it over to you two?" The man's friend who had nearly attacked Link grinned and remarked, "You had better, or you'd be facing Draconian here for your life."  
  
Link grabbed his wallet and stood facing them, a bemused expression on his face. Draconian reached for it when Link absentmindedly stuffed it back into his pocket. Immediately the skinny ratman lunged at him with a pocketknife that was hidden from behind his hand. Link twisted his body away from him, grabbing his cocktail just before the man's body could spill it.  
  
The man crashed into the table, and at once the music stopped and several women began to scream when one of the men's companions headed towards Link with a knife.  
  
The Hylian drained his drink and stopped the knife inches from his face with the beer glass. When the man came at him again, Link let the knife caught into the glass handle and began to twist it.  
  
Upon the final twist the man's wrist was sprained and Link broke the knife from his grasp and took it. The man began cursing obscenities into the air and held his shaking hand, now twisted in a grotesque angle.  
  
Two other thugs sprang in with daggers, in which Link managed to break from with the knife. He blocked another blow and jabbed one of them with his elbow to the chest, and the other he kicked in the crotch with a booted foot. "You dirty bastard!" the man screamed as he clutched his privates.  
  
The rest of them jumped in, and Link started a dash across the room to prevent them from ganging up on him. One thug's dagger nearly had him when he sprang away and the blade only caught the wood of the bar booth. Several people screamed and the bartender swore mad words to the thug about the booth.  
  
Link rolled over a chair and grasped it by the sides, letting three of them run before he spiked them with the chair's tripod legs. The lights flickered as they crashed over the bar booth and into the neon signs. Finally, the last thug advanced quickly bearing a crude double-edged sword.  
  
"Whoa!" Link ducked as the sword sliced horizontally then vertically.  
  
Link twisted from the second slash and grabbed a serving plate from a startled barmaid. "Could I borrow this-thank you!" He turned and shielded the mad strokes. The momentum from each stroke forced him back further each step until he hit the wall. The serving plate was dented and poked with small holes and Link threw it aside in frustration. A triumphant smile was on the thug's face as he rushed towards Link for a stab.  
  
He managed to jump aside and rolled across the ground, the blade catching only a few blond hairs and sunk into the wall. Link began to kick furiously as the thug tried to pry the sword from the wall. He rolled back and jumped onto his feet, his foot catching the man's chin and drawing blood.  
  
Link delivered one last punch, and the body spun towards the wall. When the man slid to the floor, Link turned around. Draconian stood, mouth hanging.  
  
Link caught his attention and smiled. Draconian, instead of approaching, ran as fast as his legs could carry him out of the room. A woman shrieked as he made his way past her towards the door. Everyone else stood with expressions shocked as they looked at the chaos and then finally, at Link. Link didn't know the attention that was given towards him until the silence of everyone watching him. Blushing slightly, he made his way towards the bartender and handed him a gold rupee. "Sorry about all the damage," he said as he placed it in the man's hand, "I hope this covers everything."  
  
He turned to leave the diner as quickly as Draconian. When he was out of the stifled place, his stomach had rumbled in hunger. "Aw, shit," he complained to himself. Link headed down the street in search for a food- stand or a small, discreet restaurant when a familiar voice stopped him.  
  
"…And if I catch you around my horses again, I'd have you flogged!" Link turned down the street and found the owner of the voice to be the man who was talking with the inn receptionist earlier before he came in. He was grasping a little boy by his wrists, and from the child's struggling voice Link recognized Gatle. "Fluio ikle dyu (I'm sorry), gahtan! I didn't mean to go in the stalls, I just heard a noise, that's all!"  
  
The man sneered cruelly and answered harshly, "That would have worked if it hadn't been the third time since I started staying at this town!" "Excuse me," Link interrupted, "I couldn't help but notice that you could get arrested for this kind of child abuse."  
  
"Arrested?" the man turned to him. He had light blond hair, cut short just above his ears and trimmed to less than an inch around his head. His face was lightly shaved and young, very young: almost less than three years older than Link himself. A fierceness was in the green eyes that completed him as a go-getter for the ladies, for he was no doubt handsome, complete with a circlet around one ear, and lithe but strongly built from horse training. "It's this little brat that should get arrested for trying to get too close to my horses."  
  
"That's no reason to get arrested," Link said calmly and approached closer, "Besides, he just tried to look at them, right?" "Just look at them?!" the man's face was taut with fury, "This little scoundrel nearly took off with one of my horses the last time I was here! No doubt he's come back to take one for good." Upon this, he wrenched Gatle's wrist, who winced and looked hopefully at Link. He gave him an assuring smile and stared back at the man.  
  
"You seem very proud of your horses," he stated plainly. A serene look came across the man's face, and from under his harsh expression was a faint smile. "They're the best there is, no other can outrun them! I've given my prize stallion to King Dykat himself five years ago upon permission, and I'm raising the colt that he sired to be the fastest legs known in the Northern parts!" Link felt a surge of pride for Epona, but he compressed the emotion and said with a smile, "I don't think you'll stand a chance."  
  
Both the man and Gatle's expression were of shock, the man demonstrated more of fury. He released Gatle in anger and faced Link's dancing blue violet eyes with his smothering green.  
  
"Are you challenging me?" he whispered. Link tilted his head slightly to match his expression. "I hate to say it, but the fastest horse is my own mare. No damn horse can beat her." The man looked furious and asked, seething with anger, "Just where did you get this so called great mare?"  
  
"Lon Lon Ranch from Hyrule," Link replied defiantly. To his surprise, the man began laughing hysterically. "Lon Lon Ranch? Hah! You mean you got a filly from that old cow's bin? And you think you can beat one of my horses with that thing? Haha!"  
  
Link suppressed his anger to punch the man and retorted, "Why don't I whip your ass in a race tomorrow morning?" The man's laughter quelled and he eyed Link testily. "If you think your filly can beat one of my smaller ones, I'll give you a bit of credit."  
  
Link smiled and answered, "Don't get your hopes up. If you show up with that colt you've been crapping out about, I might go easy on you." The man's green eyes flared. "All right, bastard," he breathed heavily, "We'll go at tomorrow at down. The race would be a two-part length, from the town road to the mainland and back. When I win, I'll take that donkey of yours and donate it to a farm."  
  
"And when I win," Link answered angrily at Epona's denouncement, "Gatle gets to choose one of your horses." Gatle's eyes bulged at the statement, but the two men were staring each other down in a fierce silence.  
  
The man held out his hand and replied, "Fine." Link shook it, their grasps and expressions so dark as if to break the other's bones. Without another word, the man strode off down the street, leaving Gatle unnoticed.  
  
Gatle stood lost for a moment before he said, "Um, Mr. Link?" Link looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, gahtan," the boy said. "No problem," Link answered when his stomach rumbled again.  
  
Link laughed lightly and Gatle returned the expression. "Come to my house, I have to let you meet my family and my ma's cooking, it's the best in town." Link nodded politely and followed the boy through the streets. "So, who was that guy anyway?" Link asked. Gatle gave him a look of horrific shock. "You mean you don't know who you're even up against tomorrow?" "Well, no," Link admitted.  
  
Gatle swallowed a bit and answered, "That was Rufio. And from what I know now, Mr. Link. Well…" His voice trailed off as he gave Link a sympathizing look. "You know, a farm's not that bad for a horse. I'm sure your Epona would do fine."  
  
Link sighed at his lack of trust in Epona. 'Tomorrow,' he promised himself, 'I'll give that filthy son of a bitch something to cry after.'  
  
  
  
*Hello again! As I promised, a bit more of the plot that's yet to come and a lot of events that occurred here. Draconian: a leader of his group of thieves who messed with the wrong boy, and Rufio: a horse trainer (met earlier at the inn talking to the receptionist before Link came in) who is just as proud as Link with his horses and quite hot-headed with everything else. Did anyone notice that a lot of things in this story have to do with water? The seafood, the hotel, the little made up communicator that's also functioned with echoes passing through water and all that, just to mention. I promise that the race would be filled with surprises and laughs! Thanks for reading this far! 


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
Gatle's home was very quaint, just like all the other little cottages around them, with a small garden growing around and a fence around the area. From the outside it seemed warm and inviting.  
  
A phosgane, Link found out, was sort of a home decorator powered by water. It was made of glass, catching the sunlight and glinting of green shades off the house as it hung from the corner of the house next to the drainage pipe. It spun around, Gatle told him, when rainwater from the drainage flows next to a little propeller connected to it, and sprays water in different directions when it does.  
  
Link admired the little trinket before Gatle pulled him inside the house. "Ma, pa, I'm home! And I want you to meet someone!" A short, cheery woman stepped out from what smelled like the kitchen, her face plain and loving of green eyes and red hair. A tall, black-hair man came in from another entrance outside the house his hands dirtied with work. The woman stood, staring up at Link, whose head was a foot from touching the ceiling, and at once said brightly, "Welcome to our home, Mr.." "Link," he answered, "just Link."  
  
Gatle's father came over and shook his hand. "Well Link," he said humorously, "What did Gatle do now?" "Nothing," Link answered, "In fact, Gatle helped me out finding my way around this town." "Oh, you must be a traveler!" Gatle's mother replied, "And you look starving! Come sit at our table, I've made extra helpings!" She turned around and yelled, "Daren! Lysell! Come downstairs immediately and greet our guest!"  
  
Two children's feet pummeled the staircase, and the dark raven-haired boy that Epona nearly stomped on looked on curiously while a little girl with bright, curly red hair and green eyes hid behind him as they stood bashfully at the foot of the stairs. "Daren, come over here," the father motioned to the little boy, who bounded gleefully towards him and pounced on him. Link watched with a softened expression as the boy and father wrestled playfully while the little girl silently dared herself approached him, then stopping again.  
  
"That's Daren," Gatle pointed out the little boy and then at the small redhead. "And that's Lysell. She's a bit younger, just around four last week." He motioned for her to come. "Come on, Lysell, come on," their mother urged softly. The little girl moved slowly towards them, glancing in awe at Link's towering height. With a gentle smile, Link slowly crouched to level his height near hers. The little girl came up with a look of pure innocence and said in a small voice, "Why are you so tall?"  
  
Link smiled at the inquiry and answered, "Well, I guess it's because I drink a lot of milk." Lysell's eyes widened. "Did my daddy drink that much milk too, mama?" Their mother smiled and replied, "That's right. I always made him drink a lot, just as I make you." She said this with a kiss. "Now Daren, off to dinner. Come, Mr. Link, I'll put out a chair."  
  
Dinner was delightful. Gatle's mother prepared something she called corn cake, which was semi-sweet and grainy, delicious next to a serving of her roasted bird in gravy sauce with potatoes at the end. While Daren and Lysell playfully threw pieces of potatoes at each other, their father gave them a stern word before they stopped. Then, Lysell threw another piece when their father wasn't looking, which landed on Daren's head. Link couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Tell us, Mr. Link," Gatle's mother said, "There must be many adventures you've gone through. Do you travel alone?" "No ma," Gatle said abruptly, "He rides on this beautiful roan mare and he's also got Navi with him." "Navi?" their father said with amusement, "Is this Navi a woman you're very fond of?" Link choked on a corn cake.  
  
"Jacobson!" their mother replied sharply, "How rude! You've probably offended him!" "No," Link sputtered through bits of the corn cake, "No, ma'am. It was just a – ah, funny thing." "Navi's a fairy," Gatle said as-a- matter-of-factly, "In fact, she's a blue Hyrulean Forest Fairy." The two younger children stopped their bout and stared. "Wow," Daren said in awe, "A real live fairy?" Lysell asked meekly, "Mister Link, could you let us see her?"  
  
Link smiled at her little face and answered, "Sure. But I don't have her with me here, she's back at my inn-room." "Why is she back there?" Daren asked impatiently. "Well," Link started slowly, "I guess she got mad at me for some reason." "Why? What did you do?" "I just accidentally shut her in someplace really cold, and when I got her out she didn't seem too happy about it."  
  
Lysell looked horrified. "You mean you shut her inside?" "Not on purpose, of course," Link replied quickly, "You see, she went inside to look for something to eat and the door just kind of closed on her without me knowing it." Gatle gave him the same expression as on Lysell's. "You mean you left her in the ice box?" he asked. Link assumed it was the same thing, so he nodded briefly. Lysell was bored with the subject and started asking him all sorts of questions about Navi and then Epona, which was where Daren proclaimed loudly, "Hey! I remember that horse nearly killed me today!"  
  
Both parents gave him an utter look of shock while Daren went through his traumatic event in detail. "…and if Mr. Link hadn't stopped her, I would've been stomped into pulp!" he ended dramatically. Their mother was in a paralyzed state, and through the awkward silence Gatle retorted to his little brother, "Well you didn't even thank him back then. I came out of work to tell him that and you just went back playing."  
  
Jacobson responded to this very harshly. "Daren, this young man saved you from a terrible way to die. How could you be so ungrateful?" "Sorry, papa," the little boy replied in a low voice and ran to Link's side from his chair. "I shoulda' said thanks and now I'm going to say it. Thank you, Mr. Link, for saving my life." Link nodded at his gesture, and the little boy went back into his chair, his face bright from the retelling of the feat.  
  
"Well Farore's faith," their mother finally managed to say, "Mr. Link, I cannot begin to thank you enough." "You're welcome," Link answered politely. It was really nothing compared to what he faced in the past, but kept that information to himself. Jacobson cleared his throat and looked at Gatle intently. "While we're on the subject of horses," he started, "Gatle, I've seen Mr. Rufio just today."  
  
Gatle swallowed hard on his potato. "Um, that's great, papa," he muttered. Jacobson shook his head slowly. "He arrived just moments before you came back, and he managed to tell me the trouble you were in with his horses – again." Gatle looked at his father feebly, "I didn't ride one, honest! I was just admiring them in their stables." "Really?" Their mother answered this time, "Those sores on your arm don't look the like. Did you fall off when you rode this time?"  
  
The young boy snapped in a flurry of frustration and explanations, "No I didn't, honestly, I didn't! I was in the stables looking at his horses when he grabbed me by the arm! That Rufio has a big grip, you know, and he was dragging me down the street yelling at me and bruised my arm. Mr. Link came just on time and told him off, or I would have gotten beaten like he promised he would last time."  
  
Jacobson retorted, "Then you shouldn't have been near those beasts in the first place." He turned the kind blue eyes to Link and smiled generously, "Thank you once again Mr. Link. You managed to rescue two of our children today, and you are always welcomed here." "Thank you," Link answered, with a pitying look towards Gatle, who looked down at his plate.  
  
Their father sighed. "We're sorry of our son's behavior. He just loves those creatures, been loving them ever since he first saw one of Mr. Rufio's stallions come into town way back when he was about Daren's age. Ever since he's been getting in trouble with horses and their owners. One time he hitched off a gray little pony from a merchant, and we had a hell of a time clearing that up," He suppressed a laugh of the memory.  
  
"That was before he started eyeing Rufio's horses and managed to get on one and rode it around. He was seen on that bucking bronco, hanging on for dear life outside the streets, and Mr. Rufio came in all flustered and angry and he took that thing in. Very strong with his horses, that man is, took that wild thing and it was as docile as a rabbit. He came back telling us that our boy's been in trouble and the next time he'll do as he sees fit."  
  
His wife came in a soft tone, "You have to understand Rufio. Big man, he is, very passionate of his horses. But he's so boisterous, sometimes almost wild and angry just like them. But when he has those creatures around him, oh," she stopped to wave a finger at him, "They're like tamed horses. Still that fierceness, yes, but just tamed."  
  
Link pondered on a question and asked, "Just how good are the horses he trains?" "Rufio? Rumors say he's the best there is. That's why King Dykat's got him going for all of his men and even himself and his daughter, the king's own horse breeder and trainers aren't even in his league. Has his ranch way out west of this town, just less than a day's stop from here. He comes and goes on with his business here and rests before he gets to the capital, also not too far, about three days if I remember correctly."  
  
By then Lysell had put up with her patience and started asking more questions. Link sat at the dinner table, telling them of Hyrule and the people and races there: "You mean you were gonna' marry a fish?"; leaving out as much as possible as the events that occurred in a span of around seven years. "Does your mama and your papa live in the same house as you do?" Lysell asked. Link was quiet for a moment and answered with a slight smile.  
  
"No. They live…far away," he said in a low tone.  
  
When it grew dark, Link dismissed himself from the family's comfort. They stood at the door, waving at him and asking him to come back soon. Gatle, with a twinkle in his light blue eyes, mouthed the words, "At dawn." Link waved back at them, a slight soreness in his chest he didn't know of at the thought of leaving them. Then he turned and made his way along the streets.  
  
' "Does your mama and your papa live in the same house as you do?"' Lysell's little voiced echoed through his mind. Link never thought of that day the Deku sprout had told him of his past any more than he needed to, especially since he was raised in the Kokiri Forest for as long as he could remember. Yet the way Gatle's mother showered her children with kisses and pointing out the messy state of her sons' hair, and Jacobson's domineering position in the family in his fatherly way reminded him of what he never had.  
  
He began to pound his head for a memory, a glimpse of his mother's face or his father's voice. But there was nothing for him to bring forth such memories, and at night he could only imagine his mother's crooning voice to him while he slept. Link headed down the street towards the inn as he struggled to think of the words she would whisper softly in his ear, urging the night to bring him peace and slumber.  
  
The attempts grew weaker and soon failed. Link brushed past the receptionist's room and headed towards the stairs. He was at the top of the staircase when he saw a familiar face from across the corner. Silently, he pressed against the staircase and spied on the person unlocking the room a few doors from his room. It was Rufio, and Link waited until he had entered before he came out of his hiding.  
  
'Din-damnit,' he silently cursed to himself, 'Why'd he have to be here of all places?' Link thought for a while as he placed the key into the keyhole. 'If he's here, than that prized colt of his must be around here, too.' He had a temptation to see his competition for himself, but thought the better of it. Epona could beat any old horse, and he smiled to himself.  
  
As soon as he entered the door a raging storm awaited him. Navi, defrosted and alive as ever, set off quite an explosion. Link couldn't make any sense at all of what she was trying to say, but decided to let her blow the fuse. After fifteen minutes, the fairy took a moment to catch her breath. Link stopped her there and announced, "Why don't we go around the town? I'll look around for stuff and you go fill yourself up with something."  
  
"Well?" the fairy said, unaware of Link's proposal, "Exactly where the hell did you go off to?" "I went to get something to eat and ended up in Gatle's house," he answered, "That and we need to get up pretty early tomorrow morning." Navi gave off an icy glow. "Why? Can't I at least sleep in?"  
  
Link told her about Rufio and their race tomorrow morning, and added quickly when Navi's color began to turn slightly yellow, "But you could sleep in if you wanted to. I mean, we're off to race and come back, or I'll leave the window opened for you whenever you're ready to leave." The fairy tinkled. "That's better," she said sweetly.  
  
It didn't take long for Link to fall asleep as he lay on the soft mattress of the bed. A real bed, not like the bundle of blankets he used as a sleeping bag against the rough ground or even the hard one back at his tree- house in the Kokiri Forest. Navi fell asleep in an arrangement of pillows on a sofa; her light snoring was easily ignored by Link as he fell asleep contentedly.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
King Dykat paced around his study, unable to pay any attention to the pile of decrees lying on his table. His mind wandered off to his daughter Helena, who had the uncanny ability to disappear even under an army of guards. 'She's to be married and how does she approach this matter? Running away, blasted gods!'  
  
He gazed out at the full moon, which had tinted to a light orange shade in the season of a bountiful harvest, and thought fondly of his late wife. She had been beautiful, and a great deal of that beauty lies within their child. Yet it must be from his own reckless nature back in his youth that could make the king's daughter so vibrant and demanding.  
  
A large creature sailed across the moon, its cry like that of a whale. Dykat took no notice to it, the creature was merely another inhabitant of the ocean and the air that made Nemix so famous. It was from this creature's name and body markings that the country branded as their own symbolic sign: three circles arranged like the endpoints of an upside-down equilateral triangle, with a water-drop mark hovering above the area just between the two higher circles completed the Raykern.  
  
'There's a royal inspection in a few days and still all these decrees to revise…' The king sighed and decided to retire himself tonight, just to get some sleep.  
  
Meanwhile, Helena laid inside her bedchamber, awake. She slammed her fists unto her bed in frustration, unable to think up a decent plan to escape this wedding. The incident at dinner (when Kroahn spilled half a bowl of hot soup on his clothing and screamed: dancing around holding his pants away from his skin to prevent the burning to his privates) sent Helena in a mad desperation to find any lengths in order to keep this marriage at bay.  
  
"Link would make a much better husband," she noted to herself and lay on her side. Her face twisted in annoyance at the thought of that infuriating ball of light and that beloved horse of his. Somehow she'll have to get rid of them all: Kroahn, that fairy, and that horse. If only there was a way for her to find him…  
  
Slowly her mind drifted off to the tournament. Yes, that was it. It was held only once every three years, just around this time. With all the prize money, no decent warrior could resist a challenge. Her lips curved into a smile. Nor would anyone know of the special reward apart from the money itself. She positioned herself and slept soundly.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
The misty pond was there, in the field now drafted with fog. Everything was the way it was before…except for the boy. Link found himself once again in the dream, but what he thought was to be again a repeated course of actions was not. The boy was not here, not even the pond. The pond too had now disappeared.  
  
Link stood lost amidst the rolling clouds of fog and watched around him, that the field too subsided into darkness. Soon there was nothing but darkness, and he found himself staring into indefinite space. "Hello?" he called out in his dream. His voice echoed through the expanse. "Hello? Is anybody there?"  
  
Softly, a murmur grew from the shadows. Link turned to face it, but it came from all around him. It was soft and cheery like a child, and was not at all threatening. Link felt himself relax and listened to the words that were becoming clearer with each moment:  
  
"I wanted a dolly today, but mommy didn't let me.  
  
She said that the world was cruel to her and why she doesn't love me.  
  
I asked for a dress another day, and still she said the same.  
  
I could tell she didn't care; how I was tired of this game!  
  
I asked her then to give me love, and still she refused to try.  
  
She complained about everything and would continuously cry.  
  
'I've tried my best,' I told myself, 'There's nothing else to do.  
  
I'm sick and tired of this old bitch, I'm absolutely through!'  
  
That night mommy, you were so dumb, to leave it on the desk.  
  
I took it with my small, bare hands and plunged it through your chest.  
  
Now you're fine, you don't complain, you're completely unaware.  
  
Now mommy, who's the one who really needed care?"  
  
A soft giggling erupted into hysterics, and a woman's screams deafened Link's ears as they tangled in madness.  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
Link bolted from his bed, the ringing in his ears did not stop. He let out deep gasps of air, shaking off the last unnerving edges of the nightmare. The little girl's voice soon was lost in his mind, and he looked outside the window. The fields from the view were tinted lightly by the sky, which was a slight shade of purple nearing to a light gold. A clock on the wall across from his bed indicated 5:10 AM, and immediately he remembered the events of the day before.  
  
"Rufio," he muttered and fetched his red tunic, the green one suffered lightly from the fight he had at the diner yesterday. After he had washed up and placed on his boots, he reached for the keys to the room. "Wait," he started and went towards a window. Unlatching it, he lifted it all the way up for Navi to travel en route if she wanted out. Then, catching the keys from midair, he headed towards the door.  
  
  
  
*Hope I kept you all waiting. I brushed a bit on Link's orphaned childhood and on Gatle's family: Jacobson the father, Maryanne (though not mentioned) the mother, Daren the younger brother, and Lysell the little redheaded baby girl. Also the king himself, Dykat the diplomatic and beloved ruler and father who's being stressed at the moment. I included just a brief relapse about the tournament that's mentioned earlier. There was also that freakish nightmare. I made up the poem myself, so I'm proud of it, no matter what anyone else says! ( Lol, keep reading! The race is starting soon… 


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
  
  
Before Link opened the door, he heard someone else lock their room across the hall. 'It must be Rufio,' Link thought. He waited until the heavy boots thumped down the hallway and started down the stairs. Link decided to turn up late, and gave himself a few more minutes before leaving the room and locking it.  
  
When he reached the bottom of the stairs he saw someone standing behind the desk. "Ah, Mr. Link," the receptionist, slightly weary and haggard motioned towards him, "Mr. Rufio left something for you." "He mentioned me?" Link asked humorously. "Yes, he asked for this to be delivered to the man who registered here yesterday, and you were our only customer."  
  
Link nodded and reached for a small packet the receptionist held in his hand. He muttered a polite thanks and walked outside towards the stables and opened it.  
  
Inside was a letter, clasped together with a map of the town. The letter read: "The race starts at the circled spot. Try to be there before tonight on that filly of yours." Link tore the letter up but couldn't help a grin. He looked briefly at the map, which, like all the maps he had seen in the past, had the markings of a compass that moved according to the holder.  
  
When he had reached the stables, the stable boy was already up. Epona and a fat little pony were the only ones there, and when the boy saw Link he smiled. "'Yer horse's saddled and I gave her a rubdown this mornin'. Mr. Rufio said you were gonna' be here so I took care of her," the stable boy implied. Link reached Epona, who seemed well rested and thoroughly satisfied with her stay. He patted her neck gently and turned to the boy.  
  
"She's very happy," he said to him and dug into his wallet for another red rupee, "Take this." The boy looked at it in wonder and shook his head furiously. "No, gahtan! That'll be way too much 'fer here! You've already gave me a lot the 'firs time!" Link pried open the boy's hand and shoved it into his palm. He closed the argument then and led Epona out of the stables.  
  
"Henti dyu, thank you very much, gahtan!" the boy called out after him before the little pony demanded some attention. Link gave him a final wave and mounted Epona. She was restless, her hoof pawing the ground and she shook her head constantly. Link steadied her and walked on a slow pace, looking at the map Rufio had given him and headed towards east.  
  
He turned Epona toward the road and followed the street down the forward direction. Epona quickened her pace into a near trot, but Link eased her off a bit. No need to waste her energy now.  
  
Rufio was close in sight; the large cloak he was wearing the other day was left at his room as not to drag behind. He was seated on a large black stallion, whose golden mane trailed over in forelocks above its head. Link admired the stallion, his rippling muscles indeed boasted of an excellent trainer. Epona saw the stallion and snorted in detest. The stallion spied Epona and did the same, and reared on his hind legs.  
  
"Kyoreleah, down!" Rufio's strong voice demanded. The black did so, but it's snorting continued pointedly towards Epona. 'You again?!' it messaged towards her. Epona shook her mane and shot the stallion a devious look. 'Keep it down, Romeo, or this time no one's saving your little muzzle,' she placed right back.  
  
Rufio gave Link a detested look before examining Epona. "Well," he started, "Lon Lon Ranch finally made off. Did they hitch a horse off someone else's ranch?" Link smiled right back and answered, "You've got a lot of shit. Your horse probably saw the kind of mare he's up to and nearly threw you off." Rufio shot a glare but gave off a laugh. "Let's see you try and fuck around after this."  
  
He drew out a gun, and Link tensed before he realized that Rufio pointed it towards the air. "When this sounds off," Rufio explained, "we go off down this dirt path. Follow it until the little fork in the road where we turn around and come back. Is that too much for you and your filly?" Link replied sharply, "Cut the crap and eat my dust."  
  
The gun sounded before Link realized it, and with a muttered curse he urged Epona down the dirt path with a flying leap. He kept himself low to avoid as much restriction with the wind as possible, and shook Epona's reins. Link could hear Rufio and Kyoreleah a foot alongside him. He took a sideways glance and cursed. They were faster than he had originally thought, and like he and Epona, they worked together until they molded into one being.  
  
Rufio kept his hands clenched over Kyoreleah's reins and urged the stallion gently with a squeeze to his sides. He felt an unexpected rush, racing with this queer stranger. He expected that mare to be far behind him by now, but the man's horse fared quite a competitor. Their horses raced for a nose over each other, but when one began to advance the other just kept coming in faster. Faster and faster they rode, each moment exerting more excitement and acceleration.  
  
Rufio admitted to himself that this stranger was quite a horseman. He never knew another man from himself to manage a velocity at this level, and the expression on the stranger's face when he glanced over to him was of pure determination and exhilaration that matched his own.  
  
The fields passed them by in a blur, and the world had gone in a flurry of colors. Kyoreleah managed a passing comment towards Epona as he began to pull past her, 'Had enough, woman?' Epona snorted and shook her head, 'Shut up and cry at this, colt.' Her legs pounded harder until she combined her speed with newfound energy to pass by the stallion.  
  
Link urged Epona on, with the least amount of physical pressure as possible. They worked with one mind, and only the fittest horse would win in any race. The hooves kicked up dirt and clods of grass, and he saw from the light that they were nearing the still darkened fields that have not yet seen the sun.  
  
They chased the light, wind rushing through his ears almost painfully, but he embraced it. The adrenaline that flow through both riders was imminent, and soon he saw the fork on the road less than a kilometer away.  
  
Epona's legs stretched, and she covered several meters with each powerful, quick stride. Rufio was still neck to neck with them, matching every stride and every gaining speed with his own. Link could almost hear him breathing, and as he glanced at him the power in those green eyes was apparent.  
  
In less than a minute they had reached the fork, and Link prepared to turn Epona around as quickly as possible. But as he did, Kyoreleah's legs cut them off, and soon Rufio's stallion was ahead of them from around the turn.  
  
"Fucking bastard!" Link muttered under his breath. Epona let loose a massive amount of energy, and propelled herself into a series of flying strides until they were past them. Rufio pushed Kyoreleah harder, and the stallion complied to quicken his legs. The two riders were now a blur; the distinctive clacking of the horse's hooves fell into a repetitive rhythm that it never separated for the slightest interval. They were now a thunderous hum of hoofbeats, legs moving to the extreme that they seemed to have disappeared.  
  
They were nearing back to the starting point, the length of time half as much as it took to get to the fork. The two riders were at a point where each curve of the leg, each nose and each hoof lined in perfect unison, and both Rufio and Link pushed their horses towards the end.  
  
They had reached it in two strides, but didn't stop. By that time, the townsfolk had risen to the morning, women to the marketplace and children around for the early day.  
  
Many people looked towards the fields and pointed to a large dirt cloud that had formed from the distance and had now trailed back to their town.  
  
Suddenly, women screamed and children ran back against their houses. Two riders on massive horses blurred past the streets, cutting right into the town itself. The people stared on after them, which afterward a large gust of wind and dirt blew the aprons off of many mothers and thunderous hoofbeats could be heard.  
  
Rufio glanced at Link, who looked right back. He didn't expect him to go this far with him. In fact, he didn't understand why he wouldn't let himself stop. He tore away from his gaze and the two of them tore through the streets towards the market. They galloped past the stands and customers standing along the sides of the road. An eruption of chaos followed them, with a flurry of chicken feathers from the fowls that were in one merchant's stand and the air filled with screams, curses and clucking.  
  
Rufio risked a look behind him, where the scene amused him beyond reason. He turned his gaze back to the street and yelled, "Shit!"  
  
An old woman selling beads was at the middle of the road, and her deafness disabled any chance of her hearing the pounding of hooves. Kyoreleah was in too much acceleration to stop, and with a flying leap he soared across the old woman's head.  
  
The old woman looked around her curiously. Many people were giving her a very shocked look, and she had no idea why that could be. She placed a hand on her head, where a small crackled dry leaf was tangled over her bun. Taking this, she threw it away disdainfully and went across the road. 'Young'uns,' she thought to herself, 'get all worked up over the littlest things.'  
  
Link suppressed a laugh when he heard the stallion land from that jump and bolted himself towards them. They really won't give up, he realized. 'Neither do we,' he thought to himself. He kept his eyes on the road and saw that it converged into one lane. There was no other way forward, for at each side of the lane was a continuous row of buildings.  
  
He and Rufio glanced at each other, and with exerting force they urged the horses forward.  
  
"Come on, Epona," Link muttered to the mare. She picked up speed, and as did Kyoreleah. They both neared the lane, and either one horse gets in or they both ram into the building.  
  
'Ladies first!,' Epona snorted. Kyoreleah whinnied in laughter. 'As if you're a lady.' With a powerful thrust, the stallion pushed past her, leaving no chance of Epona to bypass him down the lane.  
  
At the very last moment, Link turned his horse to the side. Epona understood the meaning of the command and prepared for a jump over the building. Link depended on her speed for both of them to make it.  
  
'This is it,' they both knew. The roan mare's hindquarters pumped power into her hind legs as she propelled herself into the air.  
  
They rose seven feet, the edge to the roof still above Link's head, and began to tilt downward at an angle. Epona pushed her muscles harder and clambered against the side of the building, her hooves scrambling up against the wall inch by inch. Link kept his eyes toward the edge of the roof, the last moment before they would fall down to the ground.  
  
When they were still a foot away from the edge, Epona surged her torso forward over the roof. They felt themselves airborne for what seemed like eternity. Link felt the wonderful rush of her hooves connected soundly with stone while her hind legs followed.  
  
Link let out a whoop of triumph, and from down below Rufio heard the clatter of hooves upon the roof. "No way! That bloody bastard!" He pushed Kyoreleah down the street, glancing up once in a while to see Epona jumping across the spaces between buildings. When the lane began to disappear into another field, Rufio heard something above his head.  
  
'Filthy son of a bitch!' he cursed to himself. Link and Epona landed from a jump back into the lane right in front of them.  
  
The street here was gone, and in replacement was a wide expansion of a field. Link repressed the urge to glance back as the stallion's hooves beat closer to them until they were once again neck to neck. "You don't give up, do you?!" Rufio shouted through the wind. Link laughed and yelled back, "Had enough?!"  
  
"Fuckin' as hell no!"  
  
They raced down the field, keeping little attention to the slightly changing environment around them. The field had disappeared eventually, and there was more rock and sand than grass. The air had suddenly felt a bit too damp and tasted salty, but Rufio took no matter into it until his eyes finally made out what lay ahead.  
  
"Aw shit!" Link heard him and saw it too: just a few yards ahead was a cliff. Over that cliff was an endless expanse of water, a turbulent sea that met under the cliff in crashing waters and rock. "Whoa!"  
  
Both pulled hard on the reins, their horses let out a whinny of shock and surprise. Link gritted his teeth as he felt Epona's hooves slide across grainy particles of sand, the view over the sea closing in on them still.  
  
He prayed that they didn't fall or that Epona could have hurt herself in the process of stopping and saw that they were still moving towards the edge. His torso leaned towards the sea from momentum and felt himself sliding.  
  
It was then that Epona twisted around that Link felt himself slide off completely.  
  
His body met with a thump against the rock. Link lifted himself and shook his head. Nearby, he could hear muttering curses from Rufio, who lay only a few feet beside him. They looked at each other, Link's lip cut and bleeding while Rufio had blood trickling down the side of his face. Through effort, he managed to smile. Rufio returned the expression, and soon the two of them were laughing uproariously.  
  
Epona snorted and shook her head. 'I demand to know what's so funny!' Kyoreleah neighed in response, 'Humans.'  
  
Rufio got up as Link dusted off his tunic. "My old man always said," he began, "that a real man is one who doesn't give in. From all the hell that you've pulled through, you're more the man I thought you are." He took out his hand and looked at Link expectedly. The Hylian smiled and shook it.  
  
"So I guess that means you owe me a horse now," he said. "What?!" Rufio fumed, "You've got to be fucking joking! You stopped when I stopped!" "It looks that way but," Link pointed to two different sets of hoof prints scraped against the sand, the right set a few inches closer to the cliff than the left. "The marks closer to the cliff belongs to my horse," Link said deviously, "So that means I got here first."  
  
Rufio looked at the marks and back at Link, his face fuming yet tight with laughter. "All right," he said, "I'm not a man to go back against his own word. But the boy can't handle a horse yet, maybe we can reach some kind of agreement." Link thought for a moment and nodded. "Fine, as long as you train Gatle at your ranch and let him to visit your horses whenever he likes."  
  
The horse trainer gave it a moment's thought and nodded. "Deal." They both exchanged another handshake and mounted their horses. "So, just what hell damned name are you given?" Rufio mocked. Link looked at him and replied with a smile, "Link."  
  
"Link," Rufio repeated and added, "I just wanted to know the dirty bastard who dares to challenge Rufio and his horses." Link gave him a testing look. "Up for another challenge?"  
  
Rufio grinned. "From here back to the town," he stated. Link grasped Epona's reins. "You're on."  
  
  
  
* * *  
  
The Green Dragon was notorious for its bands of thieves and plunderers whom often took lodgings at the inn. Men laughed raucously among themselves, many whores and prostitutes moved among at least two or three men while displaying their body. Female strippers danced on the stage with male hands groping them, while music played and drinks were served. It was more of a whorehouse than an inn, and more of a niche for thieves all around than a whorehouse.  
  
A large group entered the inn, of which no one paid any heed. It was merely Draconian and his companions coming back for a little bit of pleasure or a piece of news, neither which concerned any of them. Draconian motioned for the bartender, a scruffy man with an eyepatch for impression, to come to him. The bartender stepped over a drunken body while polishing a glass, his gaze falling to several of Draconian's men.  
  
They had bruises all over their faces and arms, a few with slings and bandages over their heads. Before he could question Draconian the thief muttered into his ear, "Get me an audience with Tanis." The bartender nodded and motioned for them to follow. He went around the stage with the stripping females to a room around the back. He unlocked the door and ushered them in. A large breasted woman stood near the entrance and the bartender told her to request Lord Tanis his time with Draconian and his company. She disappeared for a moment behind a red curtain and returned a few moments later.  
  
"He says to come in only if it's urgent," she recited. Draconian pushed past her and entered the red curtain. He turned down the long hallway and turned again to a large blue curtain that was parted by two women.  
  
A tall man in a dark suit faced the wall, his hands clasped behind his back as Draconian approached him from the entrance of his private dormitory. Draconian and his men, all arranged behind him, knelt to the ground in a protocol of respect while Draconian said in a deep voice, "Lord Tanis, we are honored at your presence."  
  
"What is it now, Draconian?" the young man said in a cool, calm voice. The thief fumbled with the right words. Damn that funny looking bastard from the bar! Had the strange man not display his huge wallet in front of their faces there would have been no trouble until now. He cleared his throat and began, "We believe that one of the king's royal guards may be hanging around that town, Portula."  
  
Tanis turned with an amused expression. "Really?" he asked, "And just why is he here and just how much trouble could this one guard give?" His dark eyes scanned the faces of the bruised and beaten men behind Draconian.  
  
"Well," Draconian stuttered, "He ah, just showed up one day at our diner. Really wouldn't have given him so much damn trouble if he didn't have that fat wallet with him. I think he might have been spying around, telling off to the king's officers and all that to try and take us out."  
  
"One guard?" Tanis's voice was icy and harsh, "You mean to say that one man could give trouble to your entire company?" "He wasn't just a man, your lordship!" the fat blubber blurted, "H-he looked like an elf! Had long pointy ears and all that, with this strange green get-up of his like he came right out of the forest! He could have done magic and probably put a spell on us whole lot!"  
  
Tanis's eyes grew hard and cold. "An elf? You expect me to think that some clown looking like an elf wounded up in Portula and decided to take on a company of thieves, while being a secret guard to the king himself and spying for secrets? Imbecile! Are you worth anything more than a blundering fool?!"  
  
Draconian shrunk away. "I-I'm sorry, kaykhan! It won't happen again, honest!" Tanis slumped into his seat and placed his chin on his hand in thought. Obviously this elfish character was strong, but that did not bother him. The royal inspection of the area was just two days away, and they would pass through the town of Portula before turning back to the capital.  
  
Portula was far away from the capital so that His Royalty could not summon help immediately, and close enough to here to make it back. If there were any better time to attack and plunder the king's procession, it would be then and there.  
  
'However,' he thought with annoyance, 'If the elf is as strong as Draconian claims him to be, he could be a factor of interference if we were to act there. We'll have to eliminate him somehow.' He looked at Draconian and placed his hand down. "I'll give you an assignment to redeem yourself." The thief looked on hopefully. Tanis sat up on his seat and said, "Get rid of the elf."  
  
A look of shock crossed the faces of Draconian and all of his men. "But Lord Tanis, he's impossible! It would take a troop of men, an army, a whole league!" "Wrong," Tanis replied, "It would take Admyn." Upon the name, footsteps came up from behind the cowering men. They turned and saw a figure veiled and covered in black. A saber was sheathed in a black scabbard that hung by its side.  
  
Admyn placed its hands together in front of it and bowed halfway. "Lord Tanis, I am at your service." Draconian sputtered at the sound of the voice. "Your lordship, you can't mean this!" he said in a near furious state, "That – that's a woman!" "Admyn is the stealthiest and most successful thief and eliminator among you all," Tanis replied sharply, "She surpasses your men in strength and wit alone, along with her skills with the sword."  
  
Draconian gave Admyn a hard look and laughed. "Truly you must be joking," he chortled, "A wisp of a woman to one of us?" A sudden series of slashes whipped through the air. The men began to jump in startled confusion to the sound, and a breath of wind passed by Draconian's porky face. A moment later, Admyn stood by Lord Tanis, her hands filled with items she had snatched from the men's pockets along with Draconian's own wallet.  
  
"Why you little bitch! Give that back!" The thief began towards her when his trousers slid down his fat buttocks. The room exploded into laughter, along with most of his own men. Draconian looked at the floor and saw that his belt had been cut into pieces and grasped onto his pants, the redness on his face flustered into a look of humiliation and abhorrence towards the woman.  
  
"As you can see," Tanis struggled through fits of laughter, "Admyn has never failed me. And I put her in charge of Portula until the day of the king's procession there." Draconian retorted angrily, "But, your Lordship!" "No more!" Tanis answered angrily.  
  
He turned to Admyn and said, "You are to exterminate one man who was last seen at Portula. Draconian describes him as likeness to an elf: long ears and green clothing of that such. He shouldn't be too hard to find, and don't be careless." "Yes, kaykhan," she replied, "I won't disappoint you."  
  
Tanis turned back to gloat at Draconian's futile attempts to keep his trousers intact. "And please return these men's belongings to them," he said humorously and added towards one of his woman servants, "Get that fat fool another belt and escort them out. I want no more interruptions unless they have urgent news about the king himself." She nodded and proceeded to take the men out of the room.  
  
Admyn returned the red Draconian his wallet, who snatched it bitterly away. Then, when he muttered curses toward her, she snatched it again without his knowledge. Stuffing the fat wallet into her own pockets, she followed the servant woman along with the rest of the company outside.  
  
'An elf,' she thought amusedly, 'I thought they don't exist.' She fingered Draconian's wallet and complied. 'As long as it pays. Besides, how much trouble could a long eared, three foot little creature be?'  
  
  
  
*Did you all like it? I especially loved the scene where Link and Epona jumped over that building, just to show how far our hero would go to get what he wants ~_~. Newer characters: Kyoreleah, the stud that tried to pull the moves on Epona around the fourth chapter. Both he and Epona are there for humor, as demonstrated throughout the race. The Lord Tanis is so far described as the ringleader of many groups of thieves around the area, and definitely Draconian's boss. Admyn is sort of a ninja to date, and an excellent thief and said assasin. She does a lot of Tanis's dirty work for him, but she gets profit from it. As said, her latest target is our Link himself, but who said it was gonna' be easy? ( Anymore to say? Well, many more plots are still underway, not to mention that royal inspection any time soon. Also one more clue towards the blood of Puer, which has yet still remains a mystery… 


	9. NOT NEW CHAPTER

~ Sorry it's not a real update. I'm writing a quick note (while risking my mother's wrath) to tell you that I can't work on any fanfics (as you've noticed) until finals and school is over (which is soon, after next week). So sorry about the HUGE delay, I promise to write as soon as I can (damn these parentheses). ~ 


	10. CHAPTER TEN, FOR REAL!

~ Hey! This'll be the first update for Death's Shroud ever since I put it up on the site. Yea, MAJOR delay, but when people started saying that they liked it and wanted more I decided to add on some chapters. Thanks to you all!!!! ^_^   
  
This chapter was actually written a long time ago, same time as when I first started writing it so the style wouldn't be different. When I do start writing new parts, the style might be a little different (and hopefully the punchlines will be better, this has ddrrrryy humor) I might actually start drawing pictures based on this fic like I do with RL (please R&R that one!) If I do, I'll notify anyone on my mailing list, so:  
  
IF YOU'RE NOT ON MY MAILING LIST FOR NOTICE ON CHAPTER UPDATES, PLEASE SUBMIT A REVIEW WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!! THANK YOU!  
  
Read on, and please review!   
  
~elfboylover  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Helena turned the eggs over on her plate with a fork, one cheek resting on a hand as she listened to Kroahn's rambling about preparations towards their wedding over breakfast. 'Gods, what did I ever do to deserve this?' she lamented to herself. "…the orchestra members could be at the balcony, or should we scatter them across the aisle? No, the balcony would be more glamorous, don't you think so, my pet?"   
  
She gave him a fake smile, which started him on the line of her wedding dress. The princess looked down at her plate of food left untouched, stabbing over and over at the eggs. A malicious grin spread over her face as she thought of Kroahn while the fork pierced through the eggs and split it into chunks. She watched from the corner of her eye her father trying to keep an interested expression while Kroahn explained in thorough detail of the seating arrangements.   
  
"…yes, I believe that would be lovely. Yes, that's quite novel. I agree. Of course," the king repeated the phrases in different orders whenever Kroahn stopped to catch his breath and ask his opinion. King Dykat cursed to himself. 'I shall die an old man, watching my daughter suffer from this embarrassment.' He smiled again at one of Kroahn's remarks, and noted the prince's fair white-blond hair and his youthfulness. 'At least Helena doesn't complain about his looks,' he comforted himself.   
  
A few moments later, a herald approached the dining room and interrupted Kroahn's speech of an ideal ring. The prince looked a bit agitated, but the king and Helena allowed the messenger in with eagerness. The herald performed the protocol and held out a parchment to read from.   
  
"Your Royal Majesty and Her Highness are to be reminded of the inspection of the northwest towns tomorrow. The procession shall begin near dawn and end in a few days' time for His Majesty to reach Portula and return. Her Highness is not objected to join, if she does not wish to," the herald ended. "Well," Kroahn beamed a toothy smile, "That's wonderful! We could spend a few days for ourselves, right my love?"   
  
Helena nearly jumped from her chair. "I'll go!" she blurted, "My…poor father never had an opportunity such as this to show me the ways outside of the palace. It should be a very valuable experience." Kroahn looked surprise at this, but he grinned and said, "Well then, I should go too!" "No!" both the king and Helena shouted. The messenger looked onward on the scene quite humorously.  
  
"Ah," King Dykat began, "It's quite a tiresome journey, and only the royalty from Nemix should bother with it. Please do not tire yourself at your stay here and admire what the palace still has to offer at our hospitality." The prince gave him and hard look and beamed. "All right," he answered, "I suppose it is too much excitement for me to handle." Unaware to him, the king and Helena gave a sigh of relief.   
  
"Ahem," the herald implied, a bemused look on his face, "There are still some details to the inspection that calls for His Majesty's attention. Should I wait until after His Royalty has dined?" "Oh no," King Dykat said immediately and rose abruptly, "I'll see to it immediately." Helena stood up as well. "I'll see to it as well," she added.   
  
They bid the prince a good day and hurried out of the dining room with the herald. Helena waited until they were past the great hallways connected to the dining room before departing herself from her father. "Send me a notice by the briche tomorrow morning," she said as she laid a kiss on his cheek. "You're not seeing to the papers?" he asked comically. Helena smiled and turned down the hallway towards her room.   
  
***  
  
"So," Rufio implied to Link over a round of cocktails, "What brings you to Portula?" Link set his drink down and licked his lips. "Well, nothing really," he answered, "Just a bit of traveling to get away from my homeland for a while." "Where are you from anyway?" "Same place I got my horse."   
  
A look of confusion crossed over Rufio's face. "Hyrule? You've got to joking." Link gave him a skeptical look. "Why would I be joking?" "Well," the horse trainer began, "You know anything about all that business going on there just a few years ago? I used to go to Hyrule, had some small businesses there that reached out a bit towards Termina, but I haven't seen it for six years." "Six years?" Link asked him. During that time, Ganondorf was busy turning Hyrule into a wasteland while he was being shut in the Temple of Light.  
  
Rufio nodded and continued, "It was a bloody pile of shit. Started spooking my horses the moment we got there, and at night I kept hearing things crash along my tent. When I got out to see what the hell could've done that there was nothing. Also didn't see a lot of Gorons or Zoras, and they're one of my better clients." "Gorons and Zoras use horses?" Link asked amusedly.   
  
"For hauling carts of sirloin rocks or fish from one place to another like the market, that sort of thing. But I barely stayed there for a week. The sky was always dark and I started seeing some fucking creatures that weren't there before," Rufio ended. "So, you must have been one of the refugees or something. Don't see a lot of Hylians here ever since, but maybe some shit is being cleared up back there." Rufio raised his glass to him and gulped down most of the cocktail.  
  
Link nodded and took another sip. "What part of Nemix are you from?" he asked him. Rufio let out a sigh and placed his glass on the table. "I'm from Caravon, one of the more farming areas. Not too far from here, but most of business is in the capital so I stay here for a while, give my horses a bit 'o rest, and go to the place after a few days. But I'd be staying here a little longer."   
  
"What for?"   
  
Rufio looked surprised. "You mean you don't know?" he asked, "The royal inspection with King Dykat is stopping here last, and I'll save myself some energy by letting him come here." Link smirked, "You actually have business with the king?" At once that smug look crossed the horse trainer's face. "I've been having business with him. Always wants another horse, either for his daughter or replace some for that huge army of his. But he only deals with the best, and I've got the best there is."   
  
"Hold it," Link stopped him, "You mean the second best." Rufio glared from over the rim of his glass, but smiled a moment later. "I let you easy on that race," he said quickly. "Really?" Link said with a smile, "I could have sworn that we could've gotten killed that morning. If that's your kind of easy I'd hate to race you when you're feeling a bit hard." Rufio let out a loud laugh and waved at the bartender for more cocktail.   
  
"You're a sly one," he said as his cup was being filled, "but I've got a few years over that elfish head of yours. I want to live hard and die old, but you risked your neck jumping over that building, not to mention a fine mare." "You should talk shit," Link replied, "You nearly killed an old woman." "Kyoreleah could jump higher than that easily," Rufio retorted.   
  
He drained half the glass and looked at Link. "How long are you damning this place by staying here?" he asked comically. Link grinned at the remark and answered, "As long as I feel like it, but I want to see more of the capital and this Caravon you're talking about." "In that costume of yours?" the trainer chortled, "If you want to stay here that long, you've got to get rid of that damn forest stitch on you. Besides, a man wearing tights…" He stopped there in a stifled laughter.   
  
Link scowled but reasoned the idea to himself. It made sense that if he were to stay here then the tunic would have to go. He looked at Rufio's loose breeches stuffed into leather boots that matched his own. There was not too much difference in their clothing, just the breeches, the light shirt under a loose-fitting vest, and no cap to go with it. Suddenly Link felt a bit uncomfortable in his own clothing.   
  
Rufio noted his friend's silence and gave him a pat on the back. "I'll be your tour guide, and I'll let you in on Nemix's traditions and all that other crap. Are you willing, schoolboy?" Link gave him a wry smile. "Call me that again and I'll wipe that smirk off your face." They exchanged a bit of light laughter and stood up. Rufio left rupees for the drinks on the table next to their empty glasses, and the two men left the bar.   
  
The bartender watched as they left, and collected the money. He left the beer glasses on the table and slipped to the backroom. Glancing around to make sure no one was there, he lifted a flap under his chin and peeled off his skin. Admyn shook her head and untied the bun under the bartender's cap. She placed all of this in a small sack next to a pile of black clothes and began to unbutton the bartender's vest.   
  
Something struggled and thumped somewhere in the room. With an exasperated sigh she went over to a closet at the corner of the room and yanked it open.   
  
A middle-aged man looked up at her, his mouth gagged and his limbs trussed up like a turkey. He had only his undergarments on and a furious face as he made futile attempts to scream. "Oh shut up," Admyn said testily and knocked his head against the closet. The man's eyes rolled and he relaxed; unconscious.   
  
She changed into ordinary clothing and threw the bartender's outfit inside the closet with the man before slamming the door shut. Fishing out another mask from the sack, she gently placed the skin over skin and peered out through the eyes of an old man. She took the sack, her black clothing, and a saber that rested in a black scabbard against the wall and hid it over the corner of the wall. Then she left through the back door as an old, hunchbacked man.   
  
***   
  
Jacobson was surprised when the tall Rufio knocked onto his door. He greeted Link wholeheartedly and looked on to Rufio with foreboding fear towards his son. "What brings you here, Mr. Rufio?" he asked kindly. The trainer shifted his feet nervously and answered, "I'm looking for that son of yours."  
  
"Our Gatle wasn't anywhere near your horses today," Jacobson defended, "He was at home all day." "This isn't about my horses," Rufio assured, "I'm here for business." "Business?" the father started when Gatle stumbled into the room. He saw Link and ran towards him excitedly, until his eyes met Rufio that he stopped in his tracks. "Mr. Rufio…gahtan," he said slowly.   
  
Link looked back and forth between the two of them and cleared his throat. "Rufio wanted to make an offer to you, Gatle," he said helpfully. At once the clear blue eyes gleamed in joy. "Really?" he asked, "Does that mean you won? Does that mean I get to choose a horse?" Jacobson looked shocked and sputtered, "Gatle! Don't talk such nonsense!" He looked back at Rufio apologetically and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Rufio."  
  
"No," Rufio objected and rubbed his hands uneasily, "Gatle's right." The boy began to jump around the room maniacally, unaware of those around him. Jacobson looked back at his son and Rufio. "Surely you must not be serious. A boy his age, and we couldn't possibly handle such a beast in our modest little home." "Actually my real offer was to have him at my ranch as an apprentice," Rufio said tensely, "and I'd teach him the trade with the horses so that one day, hopefully, he could take my place." His voice tinted with a bit of sadness, but he smiled gently at Jacobson.   
  
The father was nearly shocked beyond relief. "Mr. Rufio, that is a very generous offer, but what could our son provide to you?" "Gatle has a love for the horses, which is the greatest thing that a trainer should have," Rufio explained briefly his eyes darting from side to side, "I would like to have him as my apprentice, and I'll take him off the trade with his current kaykhan, Oryl."   
  
Before Jacobson could say anything more, Gatle ran up to Rufio and took his hand. "Thank you, gahtan!" he shouted happily, "Thank you so much!" Rufio eyed him and gave a light smile and said, "You should thank this hell demon here. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't think my horses could get any better." Link grinned and let out a surprised gasp as Gatle jumped on him and tightened his skinny arms around him into a hug.   
  
"Thank you, Mr. Link! Thank you!" Link laughed and held the small boy in his arms until his father pried him away. "We cannot show our gratitude enough," said Jacobson, smiling, "Please stay at our home before you leave." "No," Rufio objected quickly, "We should be on our way. I'll come by and take Gatle with me when my trade here is finished. I expect him to be packed and ready to go by then, is that clear?" Gatle nodded eagerly and answered, "I understand, kaykhan."   
  
"Avakch schnae," Rufio said to them. "Avakch schnae, Mr. Rufio and Mr. Link," the father replied and shouted towards the house before the door closed, "Daren, Lysell, Maryanne! I have wonderful news!"   
  
Rufio glanced at Link's beaming face while they walked down the street. "Well?" he asked humorously, "Did you like that, you bastard?" "The part when you were turning red or when you started pissing in your breeches?" Link answered half laughing. Rufio shot him a dirty glare and laughed. "You bloody son of a bitch," he joked, "Couldn't stop laughing at me, could you?" Link shook his head and answered, "I just wonder how a daredevil like you could start sweating talking to a little boy's family."   
  
The horse trainer grinned. "I suppose it felt a bit funny standing there not yelling damnable curses," he replied, "Shit, we'd better begin on that teaching of yours. Let's start with that shop there and get you out of that clown suit." Link objected when Rufio pushed him inside the store.   
  
A tailor came up to them and gave a heartwarming smile to Rufio. "Ah, Mr. Rufio!" he said happily, "Are you here to make another purchase?" "No, Francois," he replied, "I'm here for a friend." Francois, a skinny little man with a flat chin held a long rope of measuring tape and eyes that seemed to see everything that went around him. He inspected Link's attire, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Tsk tsk," he said shaking his head, lifting one of Link's arms up and tugged at the cloth of his green tunic. Link felt as if he was a dog placed in front of a judge who kept poking and tugging at him.   
  
"He's a size ten at the slim area, just so or about," Francois muttered as he placed the tape measurer around and along Link's waist, arms and legs. The tailor nodded to himself muttering, and jotted down on his notepad, "Six foot two, we'll have to make some minor changes. Yes, form is acceptable." He added a few more things to his notes and looked at the two men with an air of business. "Yes, I think so. I have a few outfits I would like for you to try on," he said to Link, "Would you please wait near fitting room next to my office while I go prepare it? Oh, I'm going to make you look gorgeous."   
  
Link nodded absentmindedly while Francois led them towards a large white room surrounded by curtains and a stand at the middle. Over at the corner was a private changing room, and a few seats were lined up against the wall. A client was already standing in the middle of the room, a seamstress giving measuring to the outfit while her client stood.   
  
Rufio and Link waited outside the room near the door while Francois went into a back corner around his office. Link gave Rufio a peevish look and asked, "Do you go here often?" "Yes, that's why Francois now knows me by name," the horse trainer answered and noticed a grin on Link's face. "Just what the hell is so damned funny?"   
  
The Hylian shook his head and leaned against the wall, eyeing Rufio with his violet blue eyes. "I just can't imagine that a bastard like you worries so much about his appearance," he answered. Rufio gave him a cold smile. "But it's worth it," he answered. Link raised his eyebrows. "Why?"   
  
Just then, the client from within the room stepped down and left out the door. Rufio and Link stared as a pretty young woman gave them a sideways glance and smiled. Rufio smiled right back and turned to Link smugly. "See what I mean?" "No," he replied. The horse trainer was confused. "Why no?" Link smirked and answered, "Because she was smiling at me." "Was not, you son of a bitch," Rufio retorted and slapped his hand against Link's arm.   
  
Francois emerged with a large array of clothing folded over inside plastic sheets and with hangars. He staggered slightly before Link and Rufio offered him a hand. The tailor's face emerged and said his thanks, while the three men entered the dressing room and hung the clothing on a bar against the wall.   
  
"First," Francois started and handed Link a pair of white boxers, "I want you to change into this. And this," he pulled out a shirt and pants, along with a box of shoes and handed them all to Link. "They should be around the right size," the tailor assured and pushed Link into the private changing room.   
  
Link stood baffled in the small, square stall with the body length mirror. He sighed and placed the articles on the ground before undressing. His tights were a matter of taking off his gloves and boots, and after that he felt as if a layer of his skin had been removed. Link dressed into the boxers and pulled out the clothes, looking at them quizzically. How was he supposed to fit that over his head, or was that for the arms?   
  
"Are you done yet?" Rufio yelled from the outside. "No, give it some damn patience," Link retorted. He looked at the clothing again and shrugged to himself. The dark slacks looked easy enough to slip into, and he tightened the belt around it. He found it slightly short, but ignored it and placed on the black leather boots with clicking cuffs. The shirt came last, and as he as he turned the royal blue material in front of him looking for the head, Rufio's voice shouted impatiently, "Are you done changing into that blasted thing?!"   
  
"Almost!" Link yelled back. He tossed the shirt over his head, hoping to find the sleeves and felt them sticking out next to a slit in the cloth. Link tugged at the neck, and saw that the shirt was very opened, revealing a bit of his lean muscular chest while the long sleeves extended to his wrists. He pushed open the door stepped outside.   
  
Francois shook his head and dragged him to the stand. He buttoned the cuffs at the sleeves that Link missed and made him tuck in the shirttail into the black pants. "Oh, get rid of this thing!" he said dramatically and threw Link's cap across the room with a flair. Link's short blond hair under the cap, that had barely seen the light of the sun, was revealed in an untidy, lax arrangement around his head. He suddenly felt that his head was a bit too loose and uncomfortably exposed to the fresh air. Francois, however, kissed his fingers and allowed his hands to fly across the air emotionally.   
  
"Oh, it's ravishing! Absolutely sup-erb!" he ranted, "You are a beautiful man, but let me revise the size on those trousers." Link wasn't very sure if he wanted Francois so close, but seeing the amused expression on Rufio's face forced him to stand still. The tailor muttered numbers and wrote them all over his notebook. Then, he raced over to the cloth hangers and grabbed another set. 'Holy Farore,' Link moaned to himself.   
  
He was dragged again into the stall and forced to change into an electric blue and black robe much like the one Rufio had worn that day at the inn. It was full length and embroidered around the neck in gold designs against a black and blue fabric. A matching collared vest went over a thin, black, cotton shirt with loose sleeves and no cuffs. This apparel ended with a pair of black slacks tucked, as Francois ordered, into a pair of sleek black boots which turned above the knee at the front and below at the back.   
  
"It looks radiant on you!" Francois prated while blowing kisses, "Melifique Nayru (Blessed Nayru), I just knew that blue was your color! Oh, if I was a woman I'd come begging from your hand."   
  
Rufio couldn't keep a straight face as he stifled fits of laughter from behind his hand. Link couldn't help a smile too, and he was more than ready to leave when Francois shoved more outfits for him to try on.   
  
The process went on for two whole hours, changing and twisting and turning then standing for moments on end listening to Francois's remarks. Link found himself in countless shirts of different styles and designs, fifteen different pairs of boots mixed and matched, not to mention the different comfort in some pants that were too large or too painfully tight.   
  
'How do women do this?!' the Hylian thought miserably as he held out a creamy white sleeveless shirt. When Francois was satisfied with most of the results, he asked which of them Link would like to buy. He waved his hand and asked for them all, mounting to a cost of eight hundred and seventy nine rupees. The sooner he left, the happier he'll be.   
  
Francois resented giving him the right to wear his tunic when he made the purchase: "I'll not have the town see one of my clients in such monstrous accouterments!" So he settled on wearing the attire he first tried on and went to pay at the register. "Mr. Link," the young woman at the desk announced. Link stood up and walked towards the desk, in his hand the receipt with the list of all the items.   
  
She took it from his hand and briefly looked at him, then stopped herself and looked at him again. The young woman eyed him to his face, which was looking towards the exit frequently. She smiled to herself and decided to take her time with this one. "Ah, I see," she said slowly, "These items here, I'll have to check them." The girl went around and grasped the large bag of clothing and sorted them out, one by one. This alone took nearly ten minutes, and when she was finished she placed it on the desk.   
  
"That would be two gold Sarrons and seventy nine rupees," she said. "Sarrons?" Link asked hesitantly, "The tailor said it was eight hundred and seventy nine rupees." She gave him a wry smile and answered, "Surely you must know. One gold Sarron equals to four hundred rupees. I'll take rupees, if you have that much." Link immediately dug into his wallet for four yellow rupees and the seventy nine and handed it all to her.   
  
The girl's eyes widened as she exclaimed, "Well, you certainly are a rich man." She took her time counting through the seventy nine rupees when Rufio stepped up from behind and placed a hand on the desk. "Excuse me," he said restlessly, "But you're holding up a lot of people."   
  
From behind, five customers were wearing haggard looks. An old man began to sigh impatiently while placing a hand on his crooked back. The girl looked behind them and at Rufio's hard expression and nodded quickly. She tore out another receipt and handed it to Link. Her hand brushed past his as she gave him the bag, and she smiled at him coyly.   
  
Link took no notice of this and answered, "Thanks." He and Rufio walked out the door of the shop.   
  
Outside on the streets, Rufio grinned at his friend and nudged his arm. "See?" he said, "What did I tell you?" Link gave him a queer look. "What?" Rufio flicked his head towards the shop. "That girl was putting the moves on you, thanks to your get-up. Don't tell me you didn't notice?" "What are you talking about? You mean the clerk?" Link asked.  
  
Rufio shot his hands up into the air. "What did you fucking think I was saying? That's why I butted in, or else she would've tried to get your ass in bed," Rufio said with a smirk, "You should thank me." Link grinned at him. "Thank you? For trying to ruin my moment?" The horse trainer gave a twisted smile. "Well if you're gonna get laid, you might as well fuck around with the right woman." Link exploded in laughter.   
  
"You sound a bit too experienced," he stuttered through laughs. "And you, my friend," Rufio answered with his finger pointed towards him cautiously, "Need a little experience. I see there's a lot more to teach you, and with my help you'll be swarming with ladies." "Trust me," Link answered him with a secretive smile, "I don't need any trouble with women."   
  
They laughed among themselves on their way. From behind, the old man from the store followed them with his bright eyes. He walked into an intersecting street, fingering the two yellow rupees he sneaked off from the clerk's money box. The old man walked down the street, coughing as he wobbled with his back hunched and nodding to a few residents. While he passed the townsfolk he took a little money purse, a couple of jewels and a few spare rupees.   
  
The old man looked around the street and saw Link and Rufio near the market across the street. He made his way towards them when a large carriage of items and horses cut him off. The old man impatiently tried to push himself past the carriage, and when he emerged the two men had disappeared. 'Din-damnit,' he cursed.   
  
Link and Rufio browsed around the stands looking at miscellaneous items, when a large riot occurred near them. People scrambled out of a small store, followed by the storekeeper himself yelling, "Demon! Demon!" Link stopped him and asked, "What's going on?" The storekeeper shook a finger at the store. "Don't really know, gahtan," he answered, "We saw this large ball of light come in yelling curses into the air. My store could be hexed!"   
  
'Ball of light?' Link thought with a smile. He went towards the store when Navi emerged from the store yelling, "Fucking assholes! How can you think about charging that much for a fucking perfume?!" Link scowled and said irritably, "Navi, you should be at the inn." The fairy hovered above his head with a disgruntled tinkle. "Do you know just how damn boring it is there?" she complained, "Besides, you left the window opened again so I could leave whenever I wanted."   
  
Link sighed, "I didn't mean for you to go to the market and freak out an entire store. You should be near the fields or something, people here don't know about fairies." "They don't know about elves either," Navi protested and dipped a little in the air. "Hey, you actually look a little better today!" "Oh yeah, thanks," Link answered sarcastically and pointed to Rufio, "I have him to thank for that."   
  
"What are you, some fashion police?" the fairy asked rudely, "I thought you were supposed to be a horse trainer but you're just another damn make-out artist." Link restrained a laugh and coughed lightly. To his surprise, Rufio commented back. "What's with that voice impression of yours? Sounds like you're a cross from an ass and a even bigger jackass." Navi flew in front of his face, her glow dangerously turning red. People around them stopped to look, a tall man staring down an oddish ball of light.  
  
"You've got anything more to say to me punk before I think up of something nasty?" "Well don't hurt yourself," the horse trainer answered detestably. "You fucking little-" "All right," Link said as he stepped in between them, seeing the crowd that came to see the scene. Navi darted around his head and under his hands as he tried to catch her and hold her still from using her magic on Rufio. "Navi," Link struggled with the fairy, "Let's just get back to the inn."   
  
"I'm gonna' kill him!"   
  
"Navi, calm down!" Link shouted and groped around his bag of clothes for his old tunic. In one of the pockets he found it, and while Rufio and Navi let out all the obscenities known to man Link grabbed the fairy and stuffed her into the bottle. The glass vibrated as Navi rammed herself against it, demanding out. Link quickly dumped her into the back and headed down the street back towards the inn. The crowd let out a sigh of disappointment and began to disperse.  
  
The old man with the hunched back looked on towards the two men, and followed a bit behind. He stopped and hid around a corner when they entered the inn, and saw the sign with the two dolphins above it. Nodding and smiling to himself, he hobbled along the street.  
  
~ Hope that was okay. When I came back to reading this I just sort of gagged ^_^ ; sorry if it's not that great, but I will add new chapters, though I'm not sure when I can. I'll let you know ASAP!   
  
REVIEWS!! (and for the first time for this fic!)  
  
Togey – yay! Yay! You read my story!!   
  
Coolchick1124 – lol, I'll remember about the chickens, don't worry.  
  
Hyper Shadow – thank you so much for reviewing! I'm really touched you liked this fic, and I'll remember to write on for the sake of it ^_^  
  
Lilyclover924 – hahaha.. well I can't say that the review thing is a lie but *cough   
  
Nefetiri – awww, thank you so much!! You make me feel so special!! ^-^  
  
N_Yah – yea, humor is dry. Hope I get to improve it once I start writing more. Thanks for the comment, I'll work on it! 


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